STOCKS TO WATCH: SBC, AMD, BMC, Yahoo, Barnesandnoble.com, and two IPOs
Stocks to watch Thursday:
Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO) kicked off earnings season for Internet companies with impressive third quarter results Wednesday and even beat Wall Street's pesky "whisper number."
The company reported third quarter operating earnings of $40.4 million, or 14 cents a share, on revenue of $155.1 million. Shares of Yahoo jumped in aftermarket trading.
First Call consensus called for a profit of 9 cents a share.
Athlon chips carried Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) easily past third quarter estimates. And the company expects more to come.
In fiscal third quarter results released after market close Wednesday, the chip maker reported a net loss of $105.5 million, or 72 cents per share. First Call's survey of 19 analysts predicted a loss of 97 cents per share for the quarter ended Sept. 26.
Also Wednesday, AMD announced plans to sell its 400-worker Communications Group, which saw $70 million in third quarter revenue.
The Federal Communications Commission Wednesday approved SBC Communications Inc.'s $61 billion acquisition of Ameritech Corp., allowing the creation of the largest U.S. local phone company.
The FCC said the companies agreed to an unprecedented series of concessions to gain approval, including giving competitors deep discounts when leasing access to their networks. The concessions were backed by more than $2 billion in potential fines.
The maker of mainframe and client-server software said it expects to report fiscal second quarter earnings of $101 million to $106 million, or 40 to 42 cents per share, excluding amortization of goodwill and intangible assets. According to Zack's Investment Research, forecasts range from 37 cents to 45 cents per share.
Second quarter revenue will be between $410 million and $415 million, in line with analyst estimates, BMC said. North America business rose more than 50 percent, but international license revenue gained only in the low to mid-teens on a percentage basis.
Nothing like keeping it in the family.
Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS) announced plans to buy game software retailer Babbage's Etc. for $189 million cash. Barnes & Noble will also assume $26 million in debt. If certain financial targets are met, Barnes & Noble will also pay $10 million each of the next two years.
Leonard Riggio, chairman and CEO of Barnes & Noble, is the principal owner of Babbage's.
The console and PC games sold by Babbage's, which operates 495 stores and an online retail site. are "essential" to expanding the barnesandnoble.com website, said Alan Kahn, chief operating officer of Barnes & Noble.
Online drugstore PlanetRx.com Inc. priced its 6 million IPO shares at $16 each Wednesday, above its $12 to 14 range.
Most analysts expect PlanetRx.com to make a big splash considering Drugstore.com Inc.'s (Nasdaq: DSCM) recent success, but some are skeptical about how it will fare in the aftermarket, especially since the CVS Corp. (NYSE:CVS) and Merck & Co.'s pharmacy benefits unit just said they will hook up to cross-promote their Internet sites.
Calico Commerce, which makes e-commerce software for corporations, priced its 3.93 million share initial public offering at $14, the top end of its $12 to $14 price range.
Goldman Sachs is the lead underwriter with an assist from Hambrecht & Quist. Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers was Calico's venture capital firm and partner Bernard J. Lacroute is on Calico's board.>