Pre-Market BUZZERS: Apple Above $600, Seagate Drops 3%

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares gained 1.76 percent on Thursday and continue to attract attention in pre-market trading on Friday. Speculation continues to build about the tech giant making a smaller iPad device to better compete with Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG). The WSJ reports that, “Component suppliers in Asia are preparing for mass production in September of a tablet computer with a smaller screen than the iPad, people familiar with the situation said, suggesting a launch for the device is near. Two of the people said that the tablet’s screen will likely be smaller than eight inches. The iPad’s screen measures 9.7 inches, unchanged since the first model was released in 2010.”

Seagate Technology PLC (NASDAQ:STX) shares dropped late Thursday and continued their descent in early trading today, falling 2.71 percent. The company expects to report revenue of $4.5 billion for its fourth fiscal quarter of 2012, compared to previous estimates of at least $5 billion. Steve Luczo, chief executive officer, said, “Seagate expects to report another record quarter of revenue in the June quarter, however we did not meet our expected revenue and margin plan.”

Don’t Miss: Which Retailers are THRIVING in the Current Economy?

Research in Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM) shares popped more than 4 percent on Thursday. In an effort to prevent any more delays with BlackBerry 10, the Ottawa Citizen reports that RIM is limiting summer vacations and implementing six-day work weeks for much of its Ottawa staff.

Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) shares surged more than 13 percent on Thursday and are continuing the rally today after CEO Reed Hastings announced on Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) that the company’s monthly viewing exceeded 1 billion hours for the first time in history during June.

Investor Insight: RIM Status: DEFCON DENIAL