STOCKS TO WATCH: Serena Software, Solectron and Xybernaut

Serena Software shares should be popular Tuesday after it set a 3-for-2 stock split after the bell.

The provider of software change management products closed off 1/8 to 58 1/4 ahead of the announcement.

Company officials said the split will take effect on March 29 for all shareholders of record on March 21.

In its latest quarter, Serena hurdled analysts' estimates, earning $6.6 million, or 25 cents a share, on sales of $24.4 million.

First Call consensus expects it to earn 14 cents a share in its first quarter and 86 cents a share in the fiscal year.

The stock surged up to a 52-week high of 68 earlier this month after bottoming out at 8 1/8 in August.

All three analysts tracking the stock maintain either a "buy" or "strong buy" recommendation.

Solectron matched analysts' estimates in its second quarter Monday, posting a profit of $117 million, or 38 cents a share, on sales of $2.9 billion.

First Call consensus expected Solectron to earn 19 cents a share on a post-split basis.

Its shares closed up 3/4 to 37 3/4 ahead of the earnings report.

The $2.9 billion in sales marks a 32 percent improvement from the year-ago quarter when it earned $65.5 million, or 26 cents a share, on sales of $2.16 billion.

Including a series of one-time charges related to the acquisition of Smart Modular Technologies, Solectron earned $100 million, or 32 cents a share, in the quarter.

Without those one-time charges, Solectron's second quarter operating margin was 5.7 percent and its annualized return on equity was 14.1 percent. With one-time charges, the operating margin was 4.8 percent.

Last quarter, Solectron met analysts' estimates, earning $101.5 million, or 36 cents a share, on sales of $2.5 billion.

Keep an eye on Xybernaut Tuesday after it posted strong fourth-quarter sales and a loss of $3.5 million, or 13 cents a share.

Ahead of the earnings report, its shares closed off 3/8 to 20 5/8.

There was no First Call consensus estimate for the maker of wearable computing devices this quarter.

In the quarter, it recorded sales of $1.2 million, up from the year-ago quarter when it posted a loss of $5.8 million, or 29 cents a share, on sales of $258,000.

For the fiscal year, Xybernaut lost $16.7 million, or 70 cents a share, on sales of $3.3 million compared to a loss of $13.1 million, or 74 cents a share, on sales of $875,000 in fiscal 1998.

"We are optimistic about the future given our advanced discussions with several world-class corporations for our current and next generations of products," said CEO Edward Newman in a prepared release.

Xybernaut shares scampered up to a 52-week high of 29 15/16 in February after falling to a low of 31/32 in September.