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STOCKS TO WATCH: Electro Scientific, Rhythms NetConnections and Trimble

2 min read

Expect the following technology stocks to be among Tuesday's most actively traded issues: Electro Scientific, Rhythms NetConnections and Trimble.

  • Electro Scientific Industries (Nasdaq: ESIO)

    Electro Scientific Industries will be active after it easily topped analysts' estimates in its first quarter, earning $23.3 million, or 83 cents a share, on sales of $129 million.

    First Call Corp. consensus expected it to earn 66 cents a share in the quarter.

    Its shares closed up 5/16 to 34 13/16 ahead of the earnings report.

    In the year-ago quarter, Electro Scientific earned $4.7 million, or 18 cents a share, on sales of $58.9 million.

    Electro Scientific makes equipment used to build wireless communications and computer parts.

    Last quarter, it pocketed $17.2 million, or 61 cents a share, on sales of $109 million.

  • Rhythms NetConnections (Nasdaq: RHTM)

    The DSL provider will be worth watching Tuesday after it said it expects third-quarter sales and loss to be in line with Wall Street expectations.

    The company said third-quarter sales should be in the range of $17 million to $18 million, which is in line with analysts' expectations and up 40 percent from the second quarter. In the third quarter of 1999, Rhythms had revenues of $3.3 million.

    It expects to lose between $116 million to $119 in the quarter.

    By the end of the third quarter, Rhythms expects to have about 45,000 to 47,000 digital subscriber lines in service, representing a 45- to 50-percent increase over the second quarter 2000 and in line with analysts' expectations.

    Its shares closed off 13/16 to 8 3/8 Monday.

  • Trimble (Nasdaq: TRMB)

    Trimble shares could slide Tuesday after it warned that component shortages and the delay of a large government contract will result in lower-than-expected sales in its third quarter.

    It said it now expects sales between $109 million to $112 million in the quarter and earnings of between 13 cents to 20 cents a share.

    Its shares closed off 1/4 to 29 3/8 ahead of the warning

    "The component shortage and its impact on our performance is disappointing, but demand for our positioning technology continues to be reflected in our strong backlog," said CEO Steven Berglund in a prepared release. "Although we resolved most of the component shortages for this quarter, this occurred too late in the quarter to affect revenue."

    Last quarter, Trimble posted a profit of $12.3 million, or 48 cents a share, on sales of $71.2 million.