STOCKS TO WATCH: AMCC, Handspring, Intel, Juniper and Novellus
Expect the following technology stocks to be among Wednesday’s most actively traded issues: Allaire, Applied Micro Circuits, Handspring, Intel and Novellus Systems.
Macromedia (Nasdaq: MACR) announced Tuesday a $360 million merger with Allaire, expanding the company's reach from Web authoring software to back-end application development software.
The merger with Allaire will allow San Francisco-based Macromedia to expand its audience from Web authors using its products, such as Flash and Dreamweaver, to Web developers who build sites using server software such as Allaire's ColdFusion and Jrun.
Under the terms of the agreement, Macromedia will exchange 0.2 shares of its stock and $3 in cash for each Allaire share.
Applied Micro will be on the move Wednesday after it topped analysts’ estimates in its third quarter and offered a bright outlook for the fourth quarter.
The maker of communications chips for high-speed networks post a profit of $48.1 million, or 16 cents a share, on sales of $143.3 million.
First Call Corp. consensus pegged it for a profit of 14 cents a share.
Applied Micro shares closed off $1.25 to $70.38 ahead of the earnings report before moving up to $75.75 in after-hours trading.
The company forecast sequential revenue growth for the fourth quarter would be in the upper teens to the lower 20s in percentage terms, compared with third quarter sales.
Buoyed by stronger-than-expected handheld computer sales, Handspring on Tuesday posted a fiscal second-quarter loss that was several cents narrower than Wall Street estimates.
Excluding the amortization of deferred stock compensation, the Mountain View, Calif.-based company reported a loss of $7 million, or 7 cents per share, on revenue of $115.6 million.
The company had been expected to lose 16 cents per share and had earlier guided analysts to expect sales of $95 million to $105 million.
Intel inched past analysts’ reduced estimates in its fourth quarter and forecast its first quarter-sales would fall about 15 percent from the fourth quarter level, due largely to slowing economies across the globe.
It earned, excluding acquisition-related costs $2.63 billion, or 38 cents a share, on sales of $8.7 billion.
First Call Corp. consensus expected it to earn 37 cents a share in the quarter.
CFO Andy Bryant said on a conference call that ``our comfort with precise forecasts is as low as it has been in years,'' calling the forecast ''unusually broad.''
Intel said its best estimate was that revenue for the first quarter of 2001 would be down 15 percent, plus or minus several points, from the fourth quarter, due to seasonal factors and the impact of slowing worldwide economies. Historically, Intel's revenues have fallen about 5 percent in first quarter from the fourth quarter.
Its shares fell 75 cents to $31.38 ahead of the earnings report.
Juniper Networks (Nasdaq: JNPR), a maker of high-end network routers, beat Wall Street expectations for the fourth quarter on Tuesday as quarterly revenue increased sixfold from a year-ago levels.
On a conference call with analysts, Juniper Chief Executive Scott Kriens said there is "clear evidence that we are seeing reduced visibility," but said the company will focus on execution. Kriens also noted that demand remains strong for Juniper gear.
Indeed, officials projected that 2001 sales would more than double to $1.5 billion to $1.6 billion. Analysts were expecting sales of $1.34 billion, according to First Call.
The chip-equipment maker will be on the rise Wednesday after it topped analysts’ estimates in its fourth quarter, posting a pro forma profit of $104.4 million, or 76 cents a share, on sales of $425.1 million.
First Call Corp. consensus pegged the semiconductor-equipment maker for a profit of 70 cents a share on sales of around $415 million.
Novellus shares closed off $3.81 to $38.75 ahead of the earnings report before moving up $43.63 in after-hours trading.
The $425.1 million in sales marks a 122 percent improvement from the year-ago quarter when it earned $33 million, or 27 cents a share, on sales of $191.7 million.
For the fiscal year, it earned $322.8 million, or $2.39 a share, on sales of $1.38 billion compared to a profit of $76.6 million, or 64 cents a share, on sales of $592.7 million in fiscal 1999.
Company officials said major customer wins, particularly for copper and 300mm equipment, were responsible for the upside results this quarter.