STOCKS TO WATCH: AMD, Actuate, Applied Micro, Paradyne and Redback
Expect the following technology stocks to be among Thursday's most actively traded issues: AMD, Actuate, Applied Micro, Paradyne and Redback Networks.
Count on AMD shares being active Thursday after it easily topped analysts' estimates in its third quarter and offered a bright outlook for its fourth quarter.
The chipmaker earned $219.3 million, or 64 cents a share, on sales of $1.2 billion, 2 cents better than the consensus estimate.
Its shares closed off 94 cents to $21.81 ahead of the earnings report.
The $1.2 billion in sales nearly doubled the year-ago total when it lost $105.5 million, or 36 cents a share, on sales of $662 million.
Looking ahead, AMD said it expects to sell out all of its Athlon processors in the fourth quarter. It expects sales of the Athlon, Duron and other PC processors to set new records in both units shipped and total sales in the quarter.
For the year, it predicts it will sell more than 28 million units, up from 18.8 million units in fiscal 1999.
AMD officials said the company will sell between 8 million to 9 million units in the quarter, representing about 20 percent of the 43 million to 45 million units expected to ship for the entire industry in the quarter.
And flash-memory chip demand, it says, will continue to exceed supply for the foreseeable future.
Actuate should gain ground Thursday after it beat the Street in its third quarter, earning $3.4 million, or 5 cents a share, on sales of $29.5 million.
Analysts were looking for a profit of 4 cents a share in the quarter.
Its shares ended off $2.94 to $28.06.
The $29.5 million in sales marked a 136 percent jump from the year-ago quarter when it earned $1.5 million, or 2 cents a share, on sales of $12.5 million.
"Our record financial results demonstrate the continued strength of Actuate's information delivery offerings and the increasing importance of information delivery within e-Business platforms," said CEO Pete Cittadini in a prepared release.
There's nothing like a stock split to get investors interested, especially on the heels of yet another outstanding quarter.
The maker of high-bandwidth chips for optical networks earned $35.7 million, or 26 cents a share, on sales of $97 million in its second quarter.
First Call Corp. consensus expected it to earn 23 cents a share in the quarter.
As if that weren't enough, it announced a 2-for-1 stock split and said that it expects to post sequential sales growth in excess of 20 percent in the fourth quarter.
Paradyne figures to take a little abuse Thursday after it missed analysts' reduced estimates in its third quarter after the bell.
In the quarter, it lost $611,000, or 2 cents a share, on sales of $62.4 million.
First Call Corp. consensus pegged it for a loss of 1 cent a share in the quarter.
In Paradyne's defense, the company warned in late September that it would either break even or lose up to 2 cents a share in the quarter.
Its shares moved up 13 cents to $5.19 ahead of the results.
In the year-ago quarter, Paradyne posted a profit of $2.8 million, or 9 cents a share, on sales of $57.7 million.
The network-equipment maker surprised the Street Wednesday, posting a profit of $3.2 million, or 2 cents a share, on sales of $80.6 million.
First Call Corp. consensus expected the network-equipment maker to lose 2 cents a share in the quarter.
Its shares closed off $8 to $112.63 ahead of the earnings report.
The $80.6 million in sales marks a 291 percent improvement from the year-ago quarter when it lost $569,000, or 1 cent a share, on sales of $20.6 million.