STOCKS TO WATCH: Ameritrade, Cisco, Siebel Systems and StarMedia
Expect the following technology stocks to be among Tuesday's most actively traded issues: Ameritrade, Cisco Systems and StarMedia Networks.
Ameritrade should be worth following in the wake of CEO Tom Lewis' departure for "personal reasons."
Company officials said it has retained the executive search firm Heidrich and Struggles to conduct an extensive and immediate search internally and externally for a new CEO.
For now, Chairman Joe Ricketts will serve as the company's interim chief executive.
Ameritrade shares closed up 1/8 to 13 1/16 Monday.
Its shares fell to a 52-week low of 10 1/2 in May after peaking at 31 in November.
The network-equipment giant will be active ahead of its fourth-quarter earnings report.
First Call Corp. consensus expects it to earn 15 cents a share in the quarter.
Most of the 37 analysts who follow the stock rate it a moderate or strong buy.
Analysts generally expect the company to meet earnings results, or beat them by around a penny. The number they'll be looking hard at is revenue, and the biggest concern right now is that the company may not be able to keep its torrid growth rates going.
The company posted a pro forma profit of $727 million, or 21 cents per share, on sales of $3.55 billion in the year ago quarter. In fiscal 1999, it reported a pro forma profit of $2.55 billion or 75 cents per share on revenues of $12.15 billion.
Cisco shares closed up 11/16 to 66 1/4 Monday.
Siebel shares will be on the move Tuesday after announcing a 2-for-1 stock split effective Sept. 8 for all shareholders of record on Aug. 18.
It also announced it will acquire OnLink Technologies, a privately held maker of e-commerce software. Financial terms of the deal were not immediately available.
Siebel shares closed up 9/16 to 164 3/16 Monday.
StarMedia will see its share of action Tuesday after it posted a smaller-than-expected loss in its second quarter, losing $44 million, or 67 cents a share, on sales of $13.8 million.
First Call Corp. consensus expected the Spanish- and Portuguese-language online network to lose 70 cents a share in the quarter.
Its shares closed up 1 1/8 to 15 1/8 ahead of the earnings report.
In the year-ago quarter, StarMedia posted a loss of $22.1 million, or 43 cents a share, on sales of $3.9 million.
Its total page views in the quarter jumped 30 percent sequentially to 2.7 billion. Total unique visitors in June surpassed the 12 million-user mark.
The stock moved up to a 52-week high of 61 in February before falling to a low of 13 earlier this month.