Today's Tech Winners and Losers

Lam Research catches a bid after its earnings and guidance top expectations.

Author:: Mark Martinez
Publish date:: Apr 13, 2006 12:05 PM EDT

Shares of

Lam Research

were among technology's winners Thursday, rising 6% after the semiconductor equipment maker posted better-than-expected third-quarter results and offered a guidance that topped forecasts.

For the quarter ended March 26, the company earned $86.3 million, or 60 cents a share, on revenue of $437.4 million. Excluding items, Lam earned $93.7 million, or 65 cents a share. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call expected earnings of 62 cents a share, before items, and revenue of $424.3 million. During the year-earlier quarter, the company earned $59.5 million, or 41 cents a share, on revenue of $349.3 million.

Looking ahead, Lam Research sees fourth-quarter earnings of 80 cents to 85 cents a share, with revenue of $490 million to $510 million. Analysts project earnings of 72 cents a share on revenue of $468.3 million. Shares were trading up $2.75 to $47.46.

Compuware

(CPWR)

shares fell 3% after the company issued mixed projections for its recently ended fourth quarter. The software maker sees earnings of about 13 cents to 15 cents a share for the March quarter, with revenue of about $308 million. Compuware said the earnings were helped by a lower-than-expected tax rate, which added about 2 cents to its bottom line. Analysts project earnings of 13 cents a share on higher sales of $317.6 million. The company sees full-year earnings of about 35 cents to 37 cents a share, in line with analysts' expectations of 35 cents a share. The company plans to issue fourth-quarter results on May 16. Shares were down 25 cents to $7.51.

Shares of

Phazar

(ANTP)

tumbled 26% after the antenna maker posted a big drop in third-quarter earnings and sales. The company earned $41,185, or 2 cents a share, down from $239,792, or 10 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue fell to $1.4 million from $2.2 million. In its quarterly report filed with the

Securities and Exchange Commission

, the company said "sales and income decreased in the third quarter when United States government orders for antennas and towers were not received as projected." Shares were down $3.47 to $9.85.

Spansion

(SPSN)

rose 3% after the flash-memory company posted a narrower-than-expected first-quarter loss and said second-quarter sales would be above expectations. The company reported a loss of $51.9 million, or 40 cents a share, on revenue of $561.9 million. Analysts expected a loss of 44 cents a share and revenue of $578.4 million. Last year, the company posted a first-quarter loss of $108.8 million, or $1.50 a share, on revenue of $433.2 million.

For the second quarter, Spansion expects revenue of $590 million to $620 million. Analysts project revenue of $569.4 million. The company also said that it is well positioned to reach profitability during the second half of 2006. Shares recently had advanced 44 cents to $16.66.

Shares of

SanDisk

(SNDK)

rose 4% after Standard & Poor's said it plans to add the flash-memory company to its

S&P 500

index after the close of trading on April 19. SanDisk will replace

Chiron

(CHIR) - Get Report

, which is being acquired by

Novartis

(NVS) - Get Report

. Shares of SanDisk were higher by $2.57 to $62.04.