STOCKS TO WATCH: Bell Atlantic, General Instrument, Harbinger and PairGain
Expect the following technology stocks to be among Monday's most actively traded issues: Bell Atlantic, General Instrument, Harbinger and PairGain Technologies.
It appears all the rumors are about to finally come to an end as Bell Atlantic confirmed Sunday that it's in talks with Britain's Vodafone AirTouch Ltd. (NYSE: VOD) that could lead to an agreement on a joint U.S. cellular-services business arrangement.
Bell Atlantic shares closed off 1/16 to 62 1/2 Friday while Vodafone fell 5 1/8 to 194 13/16.
Its shares peaked at 66 15/16 in July.
Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT) may buy General Instrument Corp., a cable-television-equipment maker, in an all-stock deal valued at about $10 billion, according to people familiar with the matter cited in Monday's Wall Street Journal.
Such a deal would unite one of the world's best-known consumer-electronics makers with the cable industry's leading provider of TV set-top boxes. The merger is aimed at positioning the participants for a foothold in the emerging "broadband" market for interactive voice, data and video services.
General Instrument stockholders would get a little more than half of a Motorola share for each of their common shares of General Instrument. In New York Stock Exchange composite trading Friday, Motorola closed up 1/16 to 98 3/4, and General Instrument ended down 7/16 to 52 1/2 a share.
It's going to be a good day for Harbinger shareholders Monday.
The software developer said it will meet or beat analysts' estimates in its third quarter.
First Call consensus expects it to earn 9 cents a share in the quarter.
The stock closed up 1 3/4 to 13 7/8 in heavy trading Friday.
PairGain's going to slip Monday after it warned that its third-quarter revenue and earnings will fall "well below" Wall Street's expectations.
First Call consensus expects the maker of digital subscriber line networking systems to earn 2 cents a share in the quarter.
The stock actually closed up 2 3/8, or 23 percent, to 12 7/8 Friday after Dain Rauscher Wessels upgraded the stock.
Nine of the 17 analysts following the stock rate it either a "buy" or "strong buy." >