Today's Tech Winners and Losers

Zoran, Level 3 and Agere take off after their earnings reports.

Author:: Mark Martinez
Publish date:: Apr 25, 2006 1:29 PM EDT

Shares of

Zoran

( ZRAN) were among technology's winners Tuesday, vaulting 30% after the maker of computer chips for video and audio products posted first-quarter results that zoomed past Wall Street estimates.

The company earned $20.8 million, or 43 cents a share, on revenue of $142.2 million. Excluding certain items, the company earned $13.9 million, or 28 cents a share, on revenue of $112.1 million. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call expected earnings of 12 cents a share on revenue of $104.3 million. During the year-earlier period, Zoran recorded a loss of $18.8 million, or 43 cents a share, on revenue of $73.9 million. Excluding items, the company's year-ago loss totaled $5.9 million, or 14 cents a share.

Looking ahead, Zoran forecast second-quarter adjusted earnings of 26 cents to 29 cents a share, above Wall Street's projection of 18 cents. The company sees revenue of $118 million to $120 million, compared with analysts' estimate of revenue of $113.8 million. Shares were trading up $6.87 to $29.50.

Shares of

Level 3 Communications

(LVLT)

shot up 12% after the telecom network company posted a slightly narrower-than-expected first-quarter loss. The company's bottom-line loss totaled $168 million, or 20 cents a share, compared with a loss of $77 million, or 11 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding a one-time gain, the loss was 23 cents a share, a penny better than analysts' forecast. Revenue rose to $1.26 billion from $993 million, compared with analysts' target of $1.27 billion. Shares were up 60 cents to $5.52 on heavy volume.

(CA) - Get Report

fell 3% after the software company lowered its fiscal fourth-quarter guidance. The company, formerly called Computer Associates, now sees adjusted earnings of 14 cents to 16 cents a share for the March quarter. CA's earlier forecast called for a profit of 23 cents to 24 cents a share. The company cut its revenue estimate to a range of $940 million to $950 million from an earlier forecast of $975 million to $1 billion. Analysts project earnings of 24 cents a share and revenue of $989 million. CA plans to issue fourth-quarter results on May 30. Shares were down 76 cents to $24.75.

Shares of

Agere Systems

(AGR) - Get Report

rose 8% after the chipmaker posted better-than-expected second-quarter earnings. The company reported a loss of $21 million, or 11 cents a share, on revenue of $397 million. Excluding items, the company earned $17 million, or 10 cents a share, in the quarter ended March 31. Analysts expected earnings of 8 cents a share, before items, on revenue of $397.8 million. During the year-earlier quarter, the company posted a loss of $68 million, or 38 cents a share, on revenue of $417 million. Excluding items, the year-ago loss was $1 million, or less than a penny a share.

For the fiscal third quarter, Agere sees adjusted earnings of 13 cents to 18 cents a share and revenue of $390 million to $410 million. Analysts project earnings of 13 cents a share, with revenue of $404.1 million. Shares were up $1.10 to $14.95.

Shares of

MTC Technologies

( MTCT) jumped 14% after the information technology company posted better-than-expected first-quarter results. The company earned $4.9 million, or 31 cents a share, on revenue of $88.4 million. Analysts expected earnings of 29 cents a share and a top line of $87.3 million. During the year-earlier quarter, the company earned $5.2 million, or 33 cents a share, on revenue of $85.3 million.

Looking ahead, MTC sees second-quarter earnings of $5 million to $5.5 million, or 32 cents to 35 cents a share, on revenue of $99 million to $103 million. Analysts project earnings of 33 cents a share on revenue of $96.7 million. Shares were trading up $3.54 to $28.85.

Despite posting better-than-expected first-quarter results,

Stamps.com

(STMP) - Get Report

tumbled nearly 15% on Tuesday. The online postage company earned $3.4 million, or 14 cents a share, up from $1.6 million, or 7 cents a share a year earlier. Excluding stock-based compensation costs, the company earned $4.2 million, or 17 cents a share, beating analysts' target by 2 cents. Revenue rose to $20.5 million from $11.8 million, compared with analysts' estimate of $18.8 million.

For 2006, Stamps.com projected adjusted earnings of 67 cents to 75 cents a share, bracketing the mean analyst estimate of 70 cents. The company sees revenue of $82 million to $90 million, compared with Wall Street's forecast of $85.3 million. Shares were down $5.71 to $32.88.

Other technology movers included

Sun Microsystems

(SUNW) - Get Report

, up 8 cents to $5.06;

Lucent Technologies

( LU), down 4 cents to $2.93;

Intel

(INTC) - Get Report

, down 11 cents to $18.80;

Oracle

(ORCL) - Get Report

, up 22 cents to $14.70;