THE DAY AHEAD: Stocks to Watch
Expect the following technology stocks to be among Thursday's most actively traded issues: Computer Sciences, Fatbrain.com, J.D. Edwards, Informix, PSINet and Teltrends.
The third-largest computer services consultant won a 5-year contract with the Federal government worth about $500 million to help manage the Medicare program. Shares added 1/2 to 62.
Fatbrain.com should get a nice pat on the back after it posted a smaller-than-expected loss in its first quarter Wednesday, losing $5.2 million, or 46 cents a share, on sales of $6.1 million.
First Call consensus expected the Sunnyvale, Calif. company to lose 50 cents a share in the quarter.
Fatbrain.com shares moved up 2 3/8, or 14 percent, to 19 3/8 ahead of the earnings report.
Fatbrain.com, which changed its name from Computer Literacy Inc. in March, reported online sales of $4.5 million in the quarter, more than 250 percent higher than the $1.8 million it recorded in the year-ago period.
Total sales of $6.1 million represent a 40 percent jump versus the year-ago period when it lost $1.2 million, or 25 cents a share, on sales of $4.4 million.
The enterprise software developer posted a smaller-than-expected loss in its second quarter Wednesday, losing only $10.4 million, or 10 cents a share, on sales of $231.6 million.
First Call consensus expected it to lose 12 cents a share in the quarter.
The stock closed off 7/8 to 19 ahead of the earnings report.
The $231.6 million in sales was an 11 percent jump from the year-ago period when it earned $12.3 million, or 11 cents a share, on sales of $209 million.
License fee revenue was $67.2 million -- actually above the range the company previously expected -- in the second quarter, compared to license fee revenue of $76.4 million a year earlier. Services revenue rose 24 percent over the same period, to $164.4 million.
Earlier this month, J.D. Edwards warned it would post an operating loss for the second quarter, as corporate clients worried about Y2K problems reduced spending on back office software. The company has recently said it would try to boost its sales to government customers, and also announced plans to resell front office applications of Siebel Systems.
The stock subsequently fell to a 52-week low of 10 7/8 in April after trading at 49 7/16 in September.
The database software company settled a shareholder lawsuit for $142 million. Shares rose 1/32 to 7 1/32.
The Internet backbone company filed for a shelf registration for $300 million, or about 6.8 million new shares. PSINet plans to use these shares for acquisitions and other business. Shares rose 1/2 to 44 3/8.
The telecommunications-equipment maker met analysts' estimates in its third quarter Wednesday, earning $1.9 million, or 32 cents a share, on sales of $26.4 million.
Its shares closed up 3/8 to 22 ahead of the earnings report.
The $26.4 million in sales was a slight improvement compared to the year-ago period when it earned $1.7 million, or 27 cents a share, on sales of $25.3 million.
Sales of its high-capacity products jumped from $13.1 million to $14 million while its circuit-switched sales grew from $2 million to $2.6 million.
Company officials said Teltrend will debut four new products next week at the SuperComm trade show in Atlanta.
Teltrend shares moved up to a 52-week high of 27 7/8 in February after falling to a low of 11 in October.
Four of the five analysts following the stock rate it a "strong buy."
First Call consensus expects it to earn $1.31 a share in the fiscal year.
-Eric C. Fleming contributed to this report.