Early Tech Stocks in Motion

Oracle joins the Retek bidding.
By Mike Marino ,

Updated from 7:13 a.m. EST

Intel

(INTC) - Get Report

traded higher in a down market Wednesday after J.P. Morgan published a bullish note on the microprocessor giant's midquarter update Thursday. The brokerage believes Intel will raise the low end of its first-quarter revenue range from $8.8 billion to $9.0 billion, implying a midpoint of $9.2 billion. The Thomson First Call consensus is $9.15 billion. J.P. Morgan said Intel's laptop chips should sell well in the quarter and said flash memory prices have leveled off. The stock added 10 cents to $24.90.

Overstock

(OSTK) - Get Report

fell on a brokerage's warning that the company's television advertising campaign could cost it earnings in the first quarter. Piper Jaffray now expects the online retailer to lose 13 cents a share in the quarter. The Thomson First Call loss consensus is 5 cents a share. The brokerage left Overstock at market perform with a $54 price target but said the shares might fall as investors wait for marketing costs to pay off. Overstock was down $2.06 to $51 on Instinet.

Oracle

(ORCL) - Get Report

joined the bidding war Tuesday night for

Retek

( RETK), the retail-industry software provider that is already the subject of a tender offer from

SAP

(SAP) - Get Report

. Oracle offered $9 a share for Retek, 50 cents more than SAP, and said it has already acquired 5.5 million common shares of the target in transactions Monday and Tuesday. Oracle said it notified Retek's board of its interest in concluding a merger agreement. Retek added $1.63 to $10.22 Wednesday morning, while Oracle fell 21 cents to $13.41.

Xilinx

(XLNX) - Get Report

put fourth-quarter sales between $372.8 million and $383.8 million in a midquarter update Tuesday, above the consensus forecast of Wall Street analysts. The company also reiterated its gross margin guidance of 62%, which would be unchanged from the third quarter. Analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call had predicted sales of $367 million in the quarter and the company had previously forecast $358.5 million to $372.8 million. In addition, Xilinx said its inventory will decline to below 150 days at the end of the fourth quarter. It had previously put days outstanding at 150. Xilinx gained 79 cents to $32.25 Wednesday morning.

Cablevision

(CVC)

said late Tuesday that it reached a deal with its chairman, Charles Dolan, under which the company's Doom high-definition television business will stay in service at least until the end of March. Dolan and his son, Thomas Dolan, agreed to fund any excess expenses at Doom, while they try to arrange a transaction that will spare its closure. Cablevision last week announced it was closing the money-losing venture, but that was before Charles Dolan threatened to name four new members to the board. Tuesday's agreement will keep Voom alive at least until March 31.

Web MD

(HLTH)

released earnings for the fourth quarter and raised guidance for the first quarter of 2005 Tuesday. The Internet company reported pro forma, pretax earnings of $46.8 million, or 14 cents a share, in the fourth quarter, compared with $30.4 million, or 9 cents a share, last year. Analysts had forecast earnings of 13 cents a share on that basis. Revenue came in at $307.6 million in the fourth quarter, a shade below the consensus. For the first quarter, Web MD is expecting income before taxes, non-cash and other items of 10 cents to 11 cents a share, and revenue of $297 million to $307 million. Analysts were expecting earnings on that basis of 10 cents a share and revenue of $298.9 million. The stock added 53 cents to $8.10 a share Wednesday morning.

StockerYale

(STKR)

said its fourth-quarter loss narrowed from a year ago on a 27% increase in sales. The laser company lost $4.2 million, or 19 cents a share, in the quarter, compared with a loss of $4.7 million, or 32 cents a share, last year, when it had a smaller share count. Sales were $4.2 million in the latest quarter compared with $3.3 million a year ago. The company expressed optimism about the current period, saying, "We expect that increased sales to existing OEMs, the introduction of several new products and improved manufacturing efficiencies will result in a meaningful improvement in operating profits beginning with the first quarter of 2005." The stock rose 16 cents to $1.04 Wednesday morning.

Harvard Bioscience

(HBIO) - Get Report

reported disappointing fourth-quarter results Tuesday night. The company said earnings slipped from a year ago to $1.1 million, or 4 cents a share, about 3 cents short of the Thomson First Call consensus. Sales fell 2% from a year ago to $24.7 million, also short of the consensus estimate of $25.2 million. The primary cause for the earnings miss was a shortfall in revenue at the company's Genomic Solutions subsidiary, CEO Chane Graziano said in a statement.

SeaChange

(SEAC) - Get Report

said Tuesday it lost $2.2 million, or 8 cents a share, in the fourth quarter on revenue that fell 23% to $30 million. Analysts were expecting a loss of 6 cents per share and revenue of $29.1 million, according to Thomson First Call. The stock slid 87 cents to $13.32 Wednesday morning.

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