The Battle Road Tech Index™ fell 1.0 percent for the week ended May 8, 2009, closing at 1234. Year-to-date, the index is up 23.4 percent, having started at a value of 1000. For the week, 15 of the 25 Index components were in negative territory. This marks the first time in eight weeks that the index declined.

The following companies were notable movers for the week:

Activision-Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI) gained 8.9 percent for the week. On Thursday May 7, 2009, Activision Blizzard released better than expected Q1 2009 earnings. The company raised its fiscal 2009 guidance and expects GAAP net revenues to come in at $4.3 billion, and GAAP earnings per diluted share of $0.24, as compared to the company’s prior fiscal 2009 GAAP guidance of $4.2 billion in net revenues and $0.22 earnings per diluted share. For the second quarter of 2009, Activision expects GAAP net revenues of $1.0 billion, and GAAP earnings per diluted share of $0.10. According to Reuters Estimates, analysts were expecting the company to report revenues of $840 million and EPS of $0.09 for second quarter of 2009.

Yahoo!’s (NASDAQ: YHOO) shares rose 7.1 percent this week, due in part to an investigation launched against Google by the Department of Justice. The DOJ is investigating antitrust issues due to recent data gathered that indicates Google controls 76 percent of the search market today, as well as issues of whether or not CEO Eric Schmidt, who is a member of Apple’s board of directors, has access to Apple’s iPhone technology, which presents a conflict of interest with Google’s mobile phone products. Additionally, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer admitted that the company is still in talks with Yahoo!. Mr. Ballmer hinted that the two companies were working together to improve search.

Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) fell 8.8 percent for the week, even in the face of positive industry comments from Compal Electronics, the world’s number two contract laptop PC maker. Compal supplies companies like Hewlett Packard (NYSE: HPQ) and Dell, and raised its shipment forecast for the second quarter from 15 percent to 20 percent growth. However, comments from Oracle’s (NASDAQ: ORCL) CEO Larry Ellison on Thursday suggests to us that Dell’s server business may feel pressure from the Oracle-Sun Microsystems combination. The duo plans to offer a bundle of server hardware and Oracle’s enterprise software, using processors that will run the company’s software faster than hardware from HP, IBM, or Dell. This is a move away from the commoditized nature of the server industry, and may hurt Dell’s server business if enterprises see efficiency benefits from bundling the hardware and software.