STOCKS TO WATCH: Allegiance Telecom, Cisco, Commerce One and Ebay

Hard to read how Wall Street will react to Allegiance Telecom Wednesday after it posted a wider-than-expected loss in its fourth quarter but announced a 3-for-2 stock split.

Its shares closed up 1 7/16 to 124 15/16 ahead of the earnings report.

In the quarter, it lost $60 million, or 93 cents a share, on sales of $39.3 million.

First Call consensus expected the competitive local exchange carrier to lose 91 cents a share in the quarter.

In the year-ago quarter, it lost $39.8 million, or 79 cents a share, on sales of $5.6 million.

Allegiance sold 75,400 new lines in the quarter, up from 69,800 in the third quarter. Total lines installed jumped to 60,300 from 51,100 in the previous quarter.

Ten of the 13 analysts tracking the stock maintain either a "buy" or "strong buy" recommendation.

How great is Cisco? For the 40th-consecutive quarter, Cisco topped analysts estimates, pocketing $906 million, or 25 cents a share, on sales of $4.35 billion.

First Call consensus expected the world's largest network-equipment maker to earn 22 cents a share in the quarter.

Cisco shares closed up 5/8 to 125 13/16 but soared up to 133 in after-hours trading.

It also announced a 2-for-1 stock, its fifth split in the past five years and ninth split since its debut in 1990.

The stock split will take effect on March 22 for shareholders of record on Feb. 22.

The $4.35 billion in sales represents a staggering 53 percent improvement from the year-ago quarter when it earned $609 million, or 17 cents a share, on sales of $2.85 billion.

All 39 analysts tracking the stock maintain either a "buy" or "strong buy" recommendation on the stock.

Commerce One shares should be worth watching Wednesday after business-to-business software developer named Robert Kimmitt its new chief operating officer and vice chairman of the board.

The company, which makes software to help businesses automate purchases over the Internet, said in a statement that the position of chief operating officer was newly created.

Kimmit was a partner in the law firm of Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering, specializing in international transactions in regulated industries. Previously, from 1993 to 1997, he was managing director of Lehman Brothers, based in New York and Washington.

The Web auctioneer was one of many sites hit in a series of hack attacks Tuesday. The site said its site was flooded with traffic Tuesday afternoon, leaving many users unable to bid on goods.

There were also shutdowns at Buy.com Inc. (Nasdaq:BUYX) after a similar assault hit Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO) the day before. Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN) said it also was the victim of an attack. EBay rose 3/16 to 169 3/4 at Tuesday's close.

Reuters contributed to this report.