STOCKS TO WATCH: BroadVision, JDS Uniphase, PMC-Sierra and Qualcomm

BroadVision figures to slide Friday after the content management software maker missed analysts’ estimates in its fourth quarter and warned that its first-quarter sales will be flat compared to the fourth quarter.

The company now expects sales of between $137 million to $140 million while fiscal 2001 sales will come in between $600 million and $630 million.

In the fourth quarter, BroadVision earned $4.5 million, or 2 cents a share, on sales of $136.9 million.

Analysts were looking for a profit of 5 cents a share.

BroadVision blamed higher personnel costs, sales compensation and internal process overruns for the higher expenses that cut deep into profits.

The stock finished off $2.06 to $14.88 ahead of the earnings report before slipping to $12 in after-hours trading.

The fiber-optic components supplier will be on the move Friday after it topped analysts’ estimates in its second quarter but watered down estimates for the third quarter and fiscal 2001.

JDS Uniphase posted a profit of $208 million, or 21 cents a share, on sales of $925 million.

Analysts were forecasting a profit of 19 cents a share in the quarter.

However, company executives said it expects third-quarter pro forma earnings equal to or slightly better than the second quarter, with sales 7 percent to 10 percent above the second quarter.

“This change in guidance from previous periods reflects uncertain carrier capital spending prospects, customer inventory adjustments, and a somewhat lower level of near-term sales visibility than the company has experienced in recent periods,” JDS Uniphase said in a statement.

The company also said 2001 revenues could come in at the low end of 115 percent to 120 percent growth over 2000, and earnings per share at 82 cents.

JDS Uniphase shares closed of $7.88 to $55.19 ahead of the earnings report before falling to $53.50 in after-hours trading.

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The communications chipmaker will be heading south Friday after it met analysts’ estimates in its fourth quarter but warned that a severe inventory correction and slumping orders from major telecommunications carriers will result in lower sales and earnings in the first quarter and fiscal 2001.

According to Chief Financial Officer John Sullivan, orders came to a screeching halt in the second half of the quarter when its largest customers, such as Lucent Technologies (NYSE: LU), Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO) and Nortel Networks (NYSE: NT), either canceled or delayed orders for the first quarter.

“We experienced book-to-bill ratios below 1:1 in all our product categories this quarter,” Sullivan said during Thursday’s conference call. “We believe we’re in the midst of a severe but temporary inventory correction.”

PMC-Sierra (Nasdaq: PMCS) shares closed off $7.25 to $95.88 before plunging more than 32 percent in after-hours trading.

Sullivan told analyst to expect sales of between $160 million and $170 million in the first quarter and earnings of between 13 cents a share and 15 cents a share, well below current analyst estimates.

First Call Corp. consensus was expecting first-quarter sales of $257 million and earnings of 37 cents a share.

Chief Executive Officer Robert Bailey said the company expects the inventory glut to clear up “sometime in the first half” of 2001 but advised analysts to expect sales growth of only 30 percent for the fiscal year.

Keep an eye on Qualcomm Friday after it slipped past analysts’ estimates in its fourth quarter but decided to shelve plans to take its chip business public.

The company reported revenues of $684 million in the first quarter, compared with $635 million in the fourth quarter.

Earnings per share were 29 cents, ahead of the 25 cents per share in the fourth quarter. A consensus of analysts surveyed by First Call expected earnings to be 28 cents per share.

Qualcomm shares closed off 44 cents to $73.94 ahead of the earnings report before moving up to $74.50 in after-hours trading.

Qualcomm said it is on track for a yearly earnings per share of $1.27, down about two cents from its own projections.

It also announced that Qualcomm Spinco, its semiconductor business, won't be going public in the near future. Qualcomm had anticipated an initial public offering this year.