Harbinger shares rally on outlook

Shares of e-commerce software provider Harbinger Corp. (Nasdaq: HRBC) stormed up 1 15/16, or 18 percent, to 12 3/8 Friday after the company said it expects to meet or beat analysts' estimates in its second quarter.

After blowing away analysts' estimates in its first quarter, Harbinger now says sales from its core products and services are continuing to soar.

Last quarter, it raked in 2.3 million, or 6 cents a share, on sales of $33.5 million. Analysts had expected a profit of 3 cents a share.

First Call consensus expects it to earn 7 cents a share in the second quarter and 31 cents a share in the fiscal year.

"The strong growth in core products and services that we realized in the first quarter is continuing in the second quarter," said CEO Tycho Howle in a prepared release.

It also said its working forecast for the third quarter was ahead of analysts' estimates, which now stand at 9 cents a share, according to First Call.

Total sales in the second quarter are expected to grow more than 15 percent.

"Clearly the Y2K impact has not materialized to the extent we originally anticipated for the second quarter and would not appear to be a significant factor for third quarter performance at this time," Howle said.

Harbinger shares moved up to a 52-week high of 25 1/2 in June after falling to a low of 3 1/2 in August.

Still, nine of the 17 analysts following the stock rate it a "hold."