STOCKS TO WATCH: Adobe, Jabil, Metricom, Perot Systems and Red Hat

Adobe shares figure to move higher Friday after the software developer easily topped analysts' estimates in its second quarter and said it expects 25 percent revenue growth through the rest of the fiscal year.

Adobe earned $65.8 million, or 51 cents a share, on record sales of $300.1 million.

A survey of analysts by First Call Corp. predicted the San Jose, Calif. company would earn 48 cents a share in the quarter.

Its shares moved up 2 7/8 to 124 3/4 ahead of the earnings report.

The electronics manufacturing services company will gain ground Friday after meeting estimates in its third quarter and projecting continued strength through the rest of the year.

After the bell, Jabil checked in with a profit of $38.2 million, or 21 cents a share, on sales of $965.8 million.

First Call Corp. consensus expected it to earn 21 cents a share in the quarter.

Its shares closed up 1 1/16 to 46 9/16.

Including a goodwill write-off of approximately $4 million, Jabil posted a profit of 19 cents a share in the quarter.

The $965.8 million in sales marks a 66 percent improvement from the year-ago quarter when it earned $24.6 million, or 14 cents a share, on sales of $582.2 million.

Metricom shares should take off Friday after the wireless Internet access provider announced it has received right-of-way approval from Brownhelm Township.

The deal marks the first municipality in the State of Ohio granting the right for Ricochet to be made available for its citizens. Brownhelm Township is part of the proposed Cleveland Ricochet service area.

Its shares closed up 9/16 to 32 5/16 Thursday.

Perot Systems shares will be headed south Friday after it warned that its second-quarter sales and earnings will far short of analysts' estimates.

Perot Systems, which provides a variety of technology consulting and e-business services, said its second quarter earnings will fall below the 15 cents a share it earned in the year-ago quarter.

First Call Corp. consensus expected Perot Systems to earn 17 cents a share in the quarter.

Company official blamed a pair of client-related problems for the shortfall.

Its shares peaked at 29 9/16 last June before slumping to a 52-week low of 14 1/8 earlier this month.

Red Hat should be active Friday after reporting it doubled its first quarter sales from a year ago and reported a smaller-than-expected loss.

After market close on Thursday, Linux bellwether Red Hat reported a first quarter operating loss of $2.5 million, or 2 cents a share. That loss figure adjusts for non-cash, merger, acquisition and other expenses.

In the same quarter a year ago, Red Hat reported an operating loss of $3.8 million, or 8 cents a share.

Earnings tracking firm First Call Corp. predicted a loss of 4 cents a share in the quarter.

Including merger, non-cash and other items, Red Hat reported a loss of $14.9 million, or 10 cents a share. Revenue was up $16 million in the quarter, up 95 percent compared to $8.2 million a year ago, and up 22 percent from fourth quarter sales of $13.1 million.

Its shares closed up 7/8 to 23 3/8 ahead of the earnings report.