PepsiCo Beats Estimates; MP3.com IPO Priced Above-Range

PepsiCo (PEP) recorded second-quarter earnings of 31 cents a share, topping the 15-analyst First Call estimate of 29 cents and moving ahead of the year-ago 28 cents.

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Credit Suisse First Boston priced MP3.com's (MPPP:Nasdaq) 12.3 million-share IPO above-range at $28. The company is an online music distributor. The price range for its offering was raised to $16 to $18 from $9 to $11, and then to $24 to $26.

Among other new issues, Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette priced Insight Communications' (ICCI:Nasdaq) 23 million-share IPO above-range at $24.50. The company is the 8th largest cable TV system operator.

Finally, DLJ priced Voyager.net's (VOYN:Nasdaq) 9 million-share IPO top-range at $15. The company is the largest ISP in the Midwest.

Major Indices INDEX CHANGE % VALUE YR TO DATE Dow 191.55 -1.7% 10,996.13 +19.8% S&P 500 30.55 -2.2% 1377.10 +12% Nasdaq 98.07 -3.5% 2732.22 +24.6% Russell 2000 7.82 -1.7% 453.55 +7.5% TSC Internet 23.30 -3.7% 593.73 +46.2% TREASURY BOND CHANGE VALUE YIELD 30-Year 6/32 91 5/32 5.885%

In other postclose news (earnings estimates from First Call; earnings reported on a diluted basis unless otherwise specified):

Earnings/revenue reports and previews

Siebel (SEBL) beat analysts' expectations again in the second quarter and told investors and analysts in a conference call that business for the remainder of the year and into Year 2000 looked healthy.

In the second quarter ended June 30, the maker of front-office software earned 24 cents a share, beating the forecast of 21 cents. Net revenue was $164.4 million, up from $90.0 million a year ago, while net income jumped to $25.8 million from pro forma net income of $12.0 million at the same time last year.

Despite technical glitches on the conference call that made hearing difficult and intermittent, CEO Tom Siebel managed to get his message through: The market for front-office software was "large, growing rapidly" and still was only about 5% penetrated, leaving more room for Siebel to expand.

BancBoston Robertson Stephens analyst Jon Ekoniak, whose firm has underwritten for Siebel, said he was impressed with Siebel's quarter, noting: "It was a great quarter across the board. It beat our estimates pretty solidly in license revenue, services (revenue) and EPS."

But the solid quarter with its sequential drop in day sales outstanding, or DSOs, was still not enough to change the mind of Adams Harkness Hill analyst Ben Rose, who said he will stick with his sell recommendation on the stock. DSOs, a measure of how fast customers are paying for products, fell to 95 from 99 last quarter and were one of several reasons Rose downgraded the stock about a week and a half ago.

"DSOs are only one of several concerns," Rose said. "The company is still at a red line. There are still balance sheet issues that raise a few eyebrows." Rose, whose firm has not underwritten for Siebel, declined to give more detail immediately after the conference call.

On the call, Siebel also quashed rumors that the company was interested in buying troubled enterprise resource planning, or ERP, company PeopleSoft (PSFT), which reported a drop in revenue again after the market close. PeopleSoft's second-quarter revenue slipped to $312.2 million from $320.5 million a year ago. Earnings fell to $3.0 million, or a penny a share, from $39.2 million, or 15 cents a share, a year ago. Though the maker of back-office software had earnings that matched the consensus estimate, some analysts said license revenue of $57.9 million was lower than some had forecast.

"The ERP market is really crummy," Siebel said. "The market problems there are not related to Y2K or a temporary market phenomenon. The store's closed there. It's a contracting market with incredible competition and almost panic price-slashing going on. What is it that we would find attractive about that?"

(See the earnings chart below for more earnings information on Siebel and PeopleSoft.)

-- Medora Lee

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Bell & Howell (BHW) reported second-quarter earnings of 46 cents a share, a penny ahead of the three-analyst view and up from the year-ago 38 cents. The company said it expects to report 1999 earnings of about $2 a share vs. estimates of $2.02.

Cadence Design Systems (CDN) reported second-quarter earnings of 8 cents a share, missing the 12-analyst estimate of 20 cents and falling behind the year-ago 28 cents. The company also warned that its third-quarter revenue would fall from the second quarter's $264 million and said that it expects to return to year-over-year revenue growth in the second quarter of 2000.

CompuCom Systems (CMPC) recorded second-quarter earnings of 5 cents a share, on target with the four-analyst view but below the year-ago 9 cents. The company also said its CEO and president, Ed Anderson, will resign Aug. 1. Chairman Harry Wallaesa was named interim CEO and COO Tom Lynch was named president.

RF Micro Devices (RFMD) reported first-quarter earnings of 25 cents a share, 3 cents better than the nine-analyst expectation and up from the year-ago 5 cents. The company also set a 2-for-1 stock split.

Suiza Foods (SZA) said it will take a $5 million restructuring charge in its second quarter. The dairy products maker said it's reorganizing its Florida facilities to improve efficiency.

Washington Mutual (WM) posted second-quarter earnings of 82 cents a share, in line with the 19-analyst outlook and above the year-ago 71 cents. The company also announced plans to buy back 30 million shares.

In other earnings news:

Upside Surprises
Company	Qtr	EPS	First Call View	Yr. Ago EPS	Number of Analysts
Bandag (BDG)	2Q	73c	65c	62c	1
Biosite Diagnostics (BSTE)	2Q	1c	-3c	-3c	5
Boston Scientific (BSX)	2Q	27c	26c	17c	23
Brio Technology (BRYO)	2Q	7c	5c	-5c	6
CDW Computer (CDWC)	2Q	51c	46c	36c	7
Computer Associates (CA)	2Q	49c	47c	41c	23
Cor Therapeutics (CORR)	2Q	-39c	-45c	36c	7
Crown Pacific (CRO)	2Q	32c	27c	27c	5
Cybersource (CYBS)	2Q	-42c	-45c	-18c	4
DSP Group (DSPG)	2Q	26c	22c	34c	4
Easco (ESCO)	2Q	32c	27c	20c	2
Encad (ENCD)	2Q	7c	5c	12c	4
E-Tek (ETEK)	1Q	15c	14c	8c	8
Federated Investors (FII)	2Q	33c	32c	24c	4
Fresh Foods (FOOD)	1Q	14c	13c	5c	2
Genesys (GCTI)	4Q	21c	20c	11c	6
GenRad (GEN)	2Q	27c	25c	19c	2
Hambrecht & Quist (HQ)	2Q	$1.39	83c	52c	2
Heller Financial (HF)	2Q	57c	56c	51c	13
Infoseek (SEEK)	3Q	-36c	-42c	-4c	10
Madge Networks (MADGF)	2Q	-25c	-26c	5c	1
Millipore (MIL)	2Q	32c	26c	15c	6
Phoenix Technologies (PTEC)	3Q	17c	2c	13c	2
RealNetworks (RNWK)	2Q	0c	-2c	-4c	10
C.H. Robinson (CHRW)	2Q	34c	32c	28c	8
Santa Cruz Operation (SCOC)	3Q	13c	12c	-59c	1
Secure Computing (SCUR)	2Q	-45c	-46c	6c	4
Siebel Systems (SEBL)	2Q	24c	21c	12c	14
Teradyne (TER)	2Q	40c	38c	46c	16
TJ International (TJCO)	2Q	51c	50c	43c	6
Tricon Global Restaurants (YUM)	2Q	$1.09	86c	72c	11
Trinity (TRN)	1Q	$1.10	$1.03	$1	5
TriQuint Semiconductor (TQNT)	2Q	26c	23c	14c	12
uBid (UBID)	2Q	-46c	-49c	-14c	2
USWeb (USWB)	2Q	12c	10c	5c	15
Westcorp (WES)	2Q	46c	34c	2c	1
Xilinx (XLNX)	1Q	31c	28c	17c	21
Xoom.com (XMCM)	2Q	-16c	-26c	-24c	3

Downside Surprises
Company	Qtr	EPS	First Call View	Yr. Ago EPS	Number of Analysts
Advo (AD)	3Q	58c	59c	52c	6
Cash America (PWN)	2Q	7c	9c	6c	5
Hutchinson Technology (HTCH)	3Q	-22c	-20c	-47c	5
Progressive (PGR)	2Q	$1.32	$1.58	$1.43	17
Scholastic (SCHL)	4Q	$1.27	$1.30	83c	6

In-Line Reports
Company	Qtr	EPS	First Call View	Yr. Ago EPS	Number of Analysts
Aspect Development (ASDV)	2Q	1c	1c	10c	12
CCB Financial (CCB)	2Q	80c	80c	72c	12
ChoicePoint (CPS)	2Q	61c	61c	55c	8
Covance (CVD)	2Q	26c	26c	22c	14
Excite@Home (ATHM)	2Q	-2c	-2c	-5c	15
General Cable (BGC)	2Q	36c	36c	48c	4
Hexcel (HXL)	2Q	14c	14c	47c	5
99 Cents Only (NDN)	2Q	27c	27c	22c	3
PeopleSoft (PSFT)	2Q	1c	1c	15c	22
RemedyTemp (REMX)	3Q	45c	45c	38c	7
Robert Half (RHI)	2Q	37c	37c	34c	16
Software AG Systems (AGS)	2Q	16c	16c	19c	5
Wausau-Mosinee (WMO)	2Q	22c	22c	34c	4

Mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures

The Justice Department approved Allied Waste's (AW) $9 billion acquisition of Browning-Ferris (BFI) but asked the companies to shed more than $500 million in assets.

Sprint PCS (PCS) said it will buy Qualcomm's (QCOM) Digital PCS phones for $400 million.

Synetic (SNTC) and Medical Manager (MMGR) agreed to a stock exchange ratio for their pending merger. Each share of Medical Manager will be converted into the right to receive 0.625 of a Synetic share.

Offerings and stock actions

Clorox (CLX) set a 2-for-1 stock split.

Miscellany

In a move designed to allow Ford (F) to build a new plant in the state of Bahia, Brazil announced new tax incentives for automakers to set up plants in the poorer northern half of the country.

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