STOCKS TO WATCH: Macrovision, Motorola, Rational and Yahoo!

Macrovision shares will be on the move Thursday after it raised its revenue and earnings estimates for 2001 and the first quarter.

The video security technology company said in a statement it projected pro forma earnings per share of at least 80 cents, compared to current consensus estimates of 73 cents a share, according to research firm First Call/Thomson Financial.

Macrovision said it revised its revenue outlook to $105 million to $110 million, compared with the revenue outlook of $103.42 million, as compiled by First Call.

It said revenues for the first quarter were seen in the range of $20 million to $22 million. Pro forma earnings were estimated to be at least $40 million, with earnings per share from 15 to 16 cents.

Macrovision shares closed up $7.30 to $65.50 Wednesday.

Motorola will be worth watching after it met analysts’ reduced estimates in its fourth quarter, earning $355 million, or 15 cents a share, on sales of $10.1 billion.

After issuing two profit warnings earlier in the quarter, Wednesday’ results were rather anticlimactic.

For the fiscal year, it posted a profit of $1.9 billion, or 84 cents a share, on sales of $37.6 billion.

Motorola shares closed up 50 cents to $21.19 ahead of the earnings report.

While sales improved 11 percent from the year-ago quarter, profits fell 41 percent from $564 million, or 25 cents a share.

Rational Software will be on the move after the maker of online software development applications posted a profit of $40.2 million, or 20 cents a share, on sales of $215.5 million in its third quarter.

First Call Corp. consensus expected it to earn 18 cents a share in the quarter.

The $215.5 million in sales marks a 47 percent jump from the year-ago quarter when it earned $25.6 million, or 13 cents a share, on sales of $146.2 million.

The company said net income -- including unusual items -- was $26.5 million, or 13 cents per diluted share, compared with $25.4 million or 13 cents a share in the year-ago quarter.

Rational shares added $2.31 to $39.13 ahead of the earnings report.

Let the speculation begin.

After the bell Wednesday, Yahoo posted a fourth-quarter profit of $80.2 million, or 13 cents a share, on sales of $310.8 million after the bell Wednesday. First Call Corp. consensus pegged Yahoo for a profit of 13 cents a share on sales of $315.1 million.

But the earnings were almost an afterthought because Wall Street was awaiting the company's outlook. Yahoo officials told investors to expect sales of only $1.2 billion to $1.3 billion in fiscal 2001, below previous estimates of $1.42 billion.

It's now expecting a profit of between 33 cents to 43 cents a share in the fiscal year, well below the First Call estimate of 57 cents a share. The first quarter looks to be the worst of the year. Company officials said Yahoo expects to post a profit of between 4 cents to 7 cents a share in its first quarter, dramatically lower than the current consensus estimate of 13 cents a share.

Sales in the first quarter will likely come in around $220 million to $240 million, below the $303 million most analysts were expecting.

Yahoo shares closed up 38 cents to $30.50 ahead of the earnings report before falling more than 20 percent in after-hours trading.