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STOCKS TO WATCH: Engage Technologies, Fatbrain.com, NBCi and Solectron

4 min read

Expect the following technology stocks to be among Tuesday's most actively traded issues: Engage Technologies, Fatbrain.com, NBCi and Solectron.

  • Engage Technologies (Nasdaq: ENGA)

    Engage should gain ground Tuesday after it posted a smaller-than-expected loss in its third quarter, losing $38.3 million, or 22 cents a share, on sales of $58.7 million.

    First Call Corp. consensus expected Engage, which is a majority-owned unit of CMGI (Nasdaq: CMGI) to lose 27 cents a share in the quarter.

    Ahead of the earnings report, Engage shares fell 1 9/16 to 16 15/16 after announcing it will buy MediaBridge Technologies Inc. in a $268.25 million deal.

    The $58.7 million in sales represents a 1,034 percent explosion from the year-ago quarter when it lost $14.3 million, or 19 cents a share, on sales of $5.2 million.

    Including a variety of charges, Engage posted a loss of $196.5 million, or $1.14 a share, in the quarter.

    "This quarter marked a turning point for Engage," said CEO Paul Schaut in a prepared release. "We effectively transitioned from a pure technology company to an integrated, results-oriented online marketing solutions company, as evidenced by our expanded business model, broadened capabilities, strategic partnerships and name change."

    In the quarter, Engage added more than 1,300 new customers, bringing its total customer base to just north of 6,600. Of these 6,600 customers, roughly 1,850 are direct customers, and 4,750 are through channel partners.

  • Fatbrain.com (Nasdaq: FATB)

    The online retailer of training manuals and provider of information services should see some action Tuesday ahead of its first-quarter earnings report.

    Earlier this quarter, Fatbrain.com told Wall Street to expect sales ranging between $13.5 million and $14 million, or slightly more than the $13.5 million consensus estimate.

    First Call Corp. consensus expects it to lose 88 cents a share this quarter.

    Its shares closed up 7/8, or 10 percent, to 10 Monday.

    Last quarter, Fatbrain.com got a boost when it beat the Street estimate, losing $10 million, or 79 cents a share, on sales of $11.9 million.

  • NBC Internet (Nasdaq: NBCI)

    NBCi shares will be volatile Tuesday after it announced that it will report lower-than-expected sales and earnings in its second quarter and throughout the rest of the year due to sluggish online advertising sales and costs associated with revamping of its business operations.

    Its shares closed off 1 13/16, or 7 percent, to 24 5/8.

    In announcing what it called "major refinements" to its business, product and branding strategy plans, NBCi said it had $700 million in cash and NBC promotion credits at its disposal to weather some tough months and quarters ahead.

    It also said it would "tighten" its cost structure to help turn the struggling Internet media firm around.

    This new-look NBCi will include all of NBCi's consumer portal, utility and entertainment properties -- including Snap.com and Xoom.com -- in a single integrated NBCi.com offering, expected to launch in the fall.

    Company officials said the new NBCi.com portal will act as an infomediary agent for users -- providing access to information, transactions and entertainment resources on the Internet. A strong focus on personalization and application of collaborative filtering technology will ensure the relevance of content and services to consumers.

  • Solectron (NYSE: SLR)

    Solectron met analysts' reduced estimates in its third quarter Monday, earning $123 million, or 21 cents a share, on sales of $3.6 billion.

    First Call Corp. consensus pegged the electronics manufacturing services company for a profit of 21 cents a share.

    Solectron shares closed up 1 11/16 to 37 1/8 ahead of the earnings report.

    However, company officials were guarded about the company's outlook through the fourth quarter.

    On a conference call with analysts, the company said demand was growing, but reiterated component shortages would remain a problem. Solectron, which makes products for Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HWP) and other tech giants, said there are component shortages for memory chips, circuit boards and a host of other parts.

    The outlook has broad ramifications for the tech sector, which has been hampered by component shortages. Contract manufacturers such as Solectron are among the first to be hit by shortages.

    Earlier this quarter, Solectron warned investors that a delay in closing a deal with Nortel Network (Nasdaq: NT) would result in slightly lower sales and earnings in the quarter.

    The $3.6 billion in sales marks a 52 percent improvement from the year-ago quarter when it earned $90 million, or 16 cents a share, on sales of $2.36 billion.

    Solectron shares moved up to a 52-week high of 49 1/2 in April after falling to a low of 28 1/4 last June.