STOCKS TO WATCH: Agile, Commerce One, Broadbase, Rational
Expect the following technology stocks to be among Wednesday's most actively traded issues: Agile, Broadbase Software, Commerce One and Rational.
Agile shares will be moving Wednesday after warning it will post a loss in its fourth quarter on weaker-than-expected sales.
On Monday, it and Ariba (Nasdaq: ARBA) announced they would cancel their plans to merge in a deal that was valued at more than $2.5 billion in late January.
Agile now expects to post a loss of between 3 cents and 6 cents a share in its fourth quarter on sales of between $26 million and $27 million.
Agile shares closed off 20 cents to $10.31 ahead of the warning before falling to $9.51 in after-hours trading.
First Call consensus expected the business software developer to earn 2 cents a share on sales of $28 million in the quarter.
Agile executives also said it would take a one-time charge of $5 million related to the termination of its merger with Ariba. It will also take a "significant" charge in the quarter for its investments and the possible write-down of goodwill related to its 1999 acquisition of Digital Market.
Last quarter, Agile posted a profit of 1 cent a share on sales of $25 million.
Broadbase joined a flock of software firms in warning that its first-quarter results will fall short of analysts' estimates.
Broadbase now expects to post a loss of 23 cents a share in the quarter on sales of about $13 million.
Analysts were projecting a loss of only 11 cents a share.
"The slowing economy and the challenging business climate in North America are the primary causes of the preliminary first-quarter results reported today," said CEO Chuck Bay in a prepared release.
The company also announced the departure of CFO Rusty Thomas. Brian Moore, worldwide operations senior vice president, will assume the position until a replacement is found.
Its shares closed off 13 cents to $1.63 ahead of the warning.
The B2B software company said its first-quarter loss would be wider than expected, citing delayed customer purchases and lengthening sales cycles.
The company, which projected about $170 million in quarterly revenue, said it now expected to report a first-quarter net loss, excluding non-operating charges, of about 11 cents per share.
Analysts were on average expecting the company to report a loss of 6 cents a share on sales of $198.9 million, according to First Call.
Rational also warned that it would fall short of analysts' estimates in its first quarter and that it would lay off 10 percent of its staff in a cost-cutting move.
Rational executives said it now expects to lose between 20 cents and 22 cents a share in the quarter on sales of between $240 million and $245 million.
Analysts were projecting a profit of 22 cents a share in the quarter on sales of $252.7 million.
For the fiscal year, it expects to earn between 70 cents and 72 cents a share on sales of between $813 million and $818 million.
The company said it expected to take a $20 million to $25 million charge in the June quarter to cover the 400 jobs cuts. Rational said it expects the downsizing to save the company about 10 percent during its next fiscal year.
Rational shares closed off $3.13 to $13.94 ahead of the warning before falling to $12.31 in after-hours trading.