STOCKS TO WATCH: Cognos, Manugistics, Texas Instruments and Tibco Software

Cognos shares should move higher Thursday after it met the Street estimate in its first quarter, posting a profit of $12 million, or 13 cents a share, on sales of $108.7 million.

A survey of analysts by First Call Corp. predicted Cognos would earn 13 cents a share in the quarter.

The $108.7 million in sales marks a 33 percent improvement from the year-ago quarter when it earned $10.9 million, or 12 cents a share, on sales of $81.6 million.

In the quarter, its business intelligence product sales jumped to $95.3 million. Business intelligence license revenue rose 56 percent in the quarter, while total business intelligence revenue jumped 46 percent.

First Call Corp. consensus expects it to earn 81 cents a share in the fiscal year.

Ten of the 11 analysts following the stock rate it either a "buy" or "strong buy."

Its shares closed up 1/2 to 41 9/16 ahead of the earnings report.

Manugistics also met analysts' estimates, posting a first-quarter loss of $1.2 million, or 4 cents a share, on sales of $50.5 million.

Ahead of the earnings report, its shares moved up 7/8 to 24 7/8.

The $50.5 million in sales represents a 29 percent improvement from the year-ago quarter when it earned $400,000, or 1 cent a share, on sales of $39.2 million.

In the quarter, Manugistics' licensing sales surged to $26 million, up 98 percent from the $13.1 million it recorded in the year-ago quarter.

First Call Corp. expects Manugistics to earn 15 cents a share in the fiscal year.

Eight of the nine analysts following the stock rate it either a "buy" or "strong buy."

Investors will be reacting to Wednesday's announcement that the chipmaker will issue $7.6 billion in stock to acquire Burr-Brown (Nasdaq: BBRC).

Dallas-based Texas Instruments said it would issue 1.3 shares of its own stock for each share in Tucson, Arizona-based Burr-Brown. The deal is expected to be completed by the end of the third quarter, TI said in a statement.

Burr-Brown designs data converters and amplifiers that use analog semiconductors to convert real-world sounds into the digital form computers can use and back again. The converters are used in applications such as new mobile phones designed for Internet access and data transmission as well as high-speed DSL modems, Internet audio players, and digital consumer audio systems.

TI said the acquisition would strengthen its position as a major supplier of analog chips as well as the world's leading producer of digital signal processors (DSPs) used in mobile phones.

TI shares closed off 4 3/8 to 82 1/2 ahead of the announcement while Burr-Brown closed off 2 3/4 to 72 5/8 before surging up 28 3/8 in after-hours trading.

Tibco shares figure to move higher after it easily topped the Street estimate in its second quarter, raking in $8.5 million, or 4 cents a share, on sales of $54 million.

First Call Corp. consensus expected the e-business software provider to earn a penny a share in the quarter.

Ahead of the earnings report, Tibco shares closed off 2 9/16 to 83.

The $54 million in sales marks a 157 percent jump from the year-ago quarter when it lost $3.2 million, or 5 cents a share, on sales of $21 million.

Tibco's upside surprise was fueled by a 200 percent surge in licensing revenue from the year-ago quarter, jumping to $37 million from $12 million.

Its shares moved up to an all-time high of 147 in March after falling to a low of 6 9/16 in August.