STOCKS TO WATCH: Corel, Gadzoox, Versata
Expect the following technology stocks to be among Friday's most actively traded issues: Corel, Gadzoox Networks and Versata.
The Canadian software developer will be active after it posted a slight profit in its first quarter despite weaker-than-expected sales.
Corel earned $534,000, or 1 cent a share, on sales of $32.5 million in the quarter.
First Call consensus pegged it for a loss of 1 cent a share on sales of $40 million.
Corel shares closed off 13 cents to $2.31 ahead of the earnings report, before moving up to $2.39 in after-hours trading.
The $32.5 million in sales marks a 26 percent decline from the year-ago quarter, when it lost $12.4 million, or 19 cents a share, on sales of $44.1 million.
During the conference call, Chief Financial Officer John Blaine said the company needed to see how the current quarter shakes out before providing guidance for the rest of the fiscal year.
"It's not a lack of confidence in meeting our objectives," Blaine said. "We believe we are still on target to reach those targets. We're reasonably confident we'll be profitable in both the second and third quarters."
First Call consensus expects Corel to lose 7 cents a share in the second quarter on sales of $42 million before turning a profit of 3 cents a share in the third quarter.
Gadzoox will be on the move Friday after warning it would miss estimates in its fourth quarter and lay off 10 percent of its work force.
Company executives told investors to expects sales of between $6 million and $6.5 million. The company been predicting sales would rise 25 percent from $7.2 million in the third quarter.
Gadzoox said an expense reduction plan begun in this quarter would cut operating expenses 20 percent in the next quarter.
Its shares closed off 31 cents to $1.56 ahead of the warning before moving up to $1.65 in after-hours trading.
The software developer figures to slide Friday after it warned of a wider-than-expected loss in its first quarter and announced it would ax 30 percent of its staff.
It also announced that Doug Roberts will replace CEO John Hewitt but offered no explanation for his departure.
As if that weren't enough, the company said it will not file a form 10-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission until after the company completes an inquiry into certain transactions from 2000 that may not have met its revenue recognition policy.
Versata now expects first-quarter sales between $10 million and $11.5 million, down from previous estimates between $16 million and $17 million.
It expects to lose from 41 cents to 45 cents a share in the quarter, well above the First Call consensus estimate of 25 cents a share.
Its shares closed unchanged at $1.03 a share before slipping to $1 in after-hours trading.