STOCKS TO WATCH: Compaq, eBay, LSI, Nortel and Ticketmaster-CitySearch

Compaq will be worth watching after it met analysts' estimates in its second quarter, posting a profit of $387 million, or 21 cents a share, on sales of $10.1 billion.

First Call Corp. consensus expected the PC maker to earn 21 cents a share in the quarter.

Compaq shares closed up 9/16 to 27 1/2 ahead of the earnings report before moving up to 28 1/4 in after-hours trading.

The $10.1 billion in sales marks an 8 percent improvement from the year-ago quarter when it lost $184 million, or 10 cents a share, on sales of $9.4 billion.

Compaq checked in with gross profit margins of 23.6 percent, up 3 percent from the year-ago quarter.

CEO Michael Capellas said he expects Compaq to deliver double-digit sales growth through the second half of the year and reiterated that the company would meet analysts' earnings estimates in the third quarter and for the fiscal year.

eBay shares will be very active Wednesday after it posted a profit of $13.2 million, or 5 cents a share, on sales of $97.4 million.

First Call Corp. consensus expected eBay to earn 3 cents a share in the quarter.

eBay shares closed up 1 1/8 to 56 1/4 ahead of the earnings report before moving up to 57 3/4 in after-hours trading.

The $97.4 million in sales represents a 97 percent improvement from the year-ago quarter when it earned $5.1 million, or 2 cents a share, on sales of $49.5 million.

In the quarter, eBay posted online sales of $87.9 million, up 130 percent from the $38.2 million it recorded in the year-ago quarter.

It hosted more than 62.5 million auctions in the quarter, up from 29.3 million in the same period last year. Gross merchandise sales surged to a record $1.3 billion, a 109 percent increase from the second quarter of 1999.

Company officials said its registered user base jumped to 15.8 million in the quarter, up 183 percent from the 5.6 million users it held in the same period last year.

LSI Logic shares figure to slide Wednesday even though the chipmaker met analysts' estimates in its second quarter, raking in $98 million, or 29 cents a share, on sales of $644 million.

First Call Corp. consensus predicted the chipmaker would earn 29 cents a share in the quarter. However, so-called "whisper" estimates were predicting earnings of around 31 cents a share.

Ahead of the earnings report, LSI shares closed up 2 to 48 3/4 but fell to 40 1/4 in after-hours trading.

The $644 million in sales represents a 29 percent improvement from the year-ago quarter when it earned $31 million, or 10 cents a share, on sales of $501 million.

Company officials said its communications chip business is growing much faster than expected and should improve 65 percent from the year-ago period.

Nortel shares should move higher Wednesday after it easily topped analysts' estimates in its second quarter, earning $561 million, or 18 cents a share, on sales of $7.8 billion.

First Call Corp. consensus expected the fiber-optic equipment maker to earn 14 cents a share in the quarter.

Its shares closed up 1/2 to 82 1/2 ahead of the earnings report but moved up to 87 in after-hours trading.

Nortel also boosted sales and profit forecasts for 2000 and 2001.

Second-quarter revenues grew 48 percent to $7.8 billion from $5.3 billion last year.

The company said it expects sales to grow in the low 40 percent range in 2000, up from a previous estimate of 30-35 percent, and earnings per share from operations to grow in the high 30 percent range.

Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch posted a smaller-than-expected loss in its second quarter, losing $6.7 million, or 11 cents a share, on sales of $61.4 million.

First Call Corp. consensus expected it to lose 13 cents a share in the quarter.

Its shares closed up 11/16 to 20 13/16 ahead of the earnings report.

The $61.4 million in sales marks a 141 percent improvement from the year-ago quarter when it lost $9.2 million, or 17 cents a share, on sales of $25.5 million.

Company officials also announced something it's calling the CS21 initiative which will eliminate 150 jobs, or 11 percent of the company's workforce, in the hopes of saving $7 million in expenses and helping the company reach profitability by the third quarter of fiscal 2001.

It expects to take a $1 million restructuring charge in the third quarter.