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STOCKS TO WATCH: Altera, Com21 and Covad

2 min read

Expect the following technology stocks to be among Tuesday's most actively traded issues: Altera, Com21 and Covad.

  • Altera (Nasdaq: ALTR)

    Altera should be interesting to track Tuesday after it named former LSI Logic (NYSE: LSI) executive John Daane as its new chief executive officer.

    Daane, who most recently served as executive vice president of LSI's communications products group, replaces Rodney Smith who announced his intention to retire late last year.

    Altera (Nasdaq: ALTR) shares fell $3.88, or 12 percent, to $27.31 ahead of the announcement after Lehman Brothers cut its earnings estimates on the PLD maker.

    Lehman analyst Dan Niles predicted that neither Altera nor Xilinx (Nasdaq: XLNX), off $10.31 to $46.50, would meet their sales growth targets of 12 percent year-over-year this quarter.

    "We believe both Altera and Xilinx have seen slowing demand in November with a book-to-bill ratio below 1.0 and that both will see growth closer to the mid-single digits (or lower) in the first quarter of calendar 2001," Niles wrote in a research report.

    Niles cut his earnings-per-share estimate for Altera to 31 cents a share from 32 cents a share in the fourth quarter.

    Analysts are expecting a profit of 32 cents a share in its third quarter.

  • Com21 (Nasdaq: CMTO)

    The Internet access equipment maker said after the bell that AT&T Broadband's decision to halt delivery of pending orders will affect its fourth-quarter sales by no more than 2 percent.

    Com21, based in Milpitas, Calif., said its business with AT&T is limited to the company's cable access products.

    AT&T Broadband, a unit of AT&T (NYSE: T) which provides cable television and high-speed Internet access, announced last week that it had enough components on hand to last through the end of the year.

    Com21 shares finished off 80 cents to $8.06 ahead of the announcement.

  • Covad Communications (Nasdaq: COVD)

    Covad could be in for some harsh trading Tuesday after the DSL service vendor said it will cut 400 employees, or 13 percent of its workforce, in a cost-cutting move.

    Covad shares finished off 16 cents to $2.72 ahead of the announcement.

    Covad said it will take a one-time, fourth-quarter charge for severance and other costs and said the actions are expected to provide a targeted 2001 cost saving of 20-30 percent.

    It also said it has halted construction of its planned Alpharetta, Georgia operating facility and will close it in the next 60 days.