STOCKS TO WATCH: Lam, Network Appliance, Redback and Yahoo

The chip-equipment maker will be active Thursday after missing reduced estimates in its third quarter and announcing it will lay off 15 percent of its work force to cut costs.

In the quarter, Lam earned $44.4 million, or 33 cents a share, on sales of $421.5 million.

Analysts pegged it for a profit of 36 cents a share in the quarter following its profit warning in early March.

Its shares rose $1.57 to $24.57 ahead of the earnings report before falling to $24.16 in after-hours trading.

New orders plunged 60 percent from record levels established in the second quarter.

It now expects to earn 15 cents a share on sales of $340 million in the fourth quarter, down from the First Call consensus estimate of 20 cents a share on sales of $350.2 million.

It's only a matter of how far this one will fall Thursday after the maker of network storage systems confessed that its fourth-quarter sales and earnings will fall well short of analysts' estimates.

Network Appliance executives warned after the bell Wednesday that it will earn only between 1 cent and 3 cents a share in the quarter.

First Call consensus expected it to earn 10 cents a share in the quarter.

It also said sales will fall between 20 percent and 25 percent below the $288.4 million in sales it recorded in the year-ago quarter.

The company blamed the shortfall on delays in customer orders stemming from the slowdown in the world economy.

Network Appliance shares closed up 88 cents to $16.56 before plunging to $14 in after-hours trading.

The network-equipment provider should gain ground Thursday after topping analysts' reduced estimates in its first quarter, posting a loss of $18.4 million, or 13 cents a share, on sales of $90.9 million.

First Call consensus pegged Redback for a loss of 15 cents a share following its April 2 profit warning when it announced plans to axe 12 percent of its staff.

The $90.9 million in sales represents a 166 percent improvement from the year-ago quarter when it earned $1.4 million, or 1 cent a share, on sales of $34.2 million.

Its shares closed off 10 cents to $15.84 ahead of the earnings report before moving up to $16.99 in after-hours trading.

Yahoo will be worth monitoring Thursday after it slipped past analysts' reduced estimates in its first quarter and announced plans to lay off 12 percent of its staff.

The Internet portal posted a profit of $7.6 million, or 1 cent a share, on sales of $180.2 million, down from the year-ago quarter when it pocketed 10 cents a share on sales of $230 million.

Analysts had lowered their consensus estimate to break even in the quarter.

Yahoo shares finished off 16 cents to $15.86 ahead of the earnings report before moving up to $16.27 in after-hours trading.