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Stocks to watch Friday
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June 22, 2000: 8:32 p.m. ET
Rambus rockets higher; Icahn may raise bid for Nabisco; Micron beats street
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - After the closing bell on Thursday, shares of Rambus Inc. rocketed 36 percent higher after the chip technology company said it has settled its patent lawsuits with Japan's Hitachi Ltd.
In addition, financier Carl Icahn said he could raise his offer for the rest of Nabisco Group Holdings he doesn't already own to $31 per share from $28 a share, and chipmaker Micron Technology reported a fiscal third-quarter profit that was well above Wall Street's expectations.
Friday's trading will likely be influenced by several items, including separate votes by shareholders of Time Warner and America Online, and an agreement by Microsoft and the Justice Department to speed up their antitrust battle.
Rambus, Hitachi
Shares of Rambus Inc. jumped 36 percent after the chip technology company said it has settled its patent lawsuits with Japan's Hitachi Ltd.
Rambus (RMBS: Research, Estimates) shares, which closed in Thursday's regular session up 4-1/2 at 97-1/8 on the Nasdaq, soared to 133-5/16 after the announcement, which came after the market closed.
Under the settlement, Hitachi has agreed to pay Rambus a licensing fee to use the technology, which deals with high-speed memory interfaces used in some semiconductors.
Further details of the licensing fee and settlement were undisclosed.
Darden Restaurants
Darden Restaurants Inc., operator of the Olive Garden and Red Lobster eatery chains, on Thursday posted a 19 percent rise in profit to $54.4 million, before special items, on strong sales at its franchises.
Darden, which also operates Bahama Breeze and Smokey Bones restaurants, reported a quarterly profit before gains of 43 cents, on $1.01 billion in total sales. In the year-ago quarter, Darden earned 33 cents per share on sales of $914.0 million.
Analysts polled by First Call anticipated a profit of 40 cents a share.
The company attributed its earnings growth to robust same-restaurant sales growth at its Olive Garden and Red Lobster restaurants, which posted 11 percent and 5 percent gains in sales, respectively, versus the year-ago period.
Shares of Darden (DRI: Research, Estimates) closed on Thursday up 5/16 to 16 on the New York Stock Exchange.
3dfx Interactive Inc.
Computer graphics accelerator chips maker 3dfx Interactive Inc. on Thursday said that revenue for its second quarter, ending July 31, will be lower than previously expected due to a shortage of certain components.
The company said it had not received a substantial portion of certain components a supplier had committed to provide.
3dfx called the shortfall "frustrating," and that it had been on a course for returning to operating profitability. The company said the component shortfall would result in deferred rather than lost revenue.
3dfx (TDFX: Research, Estimates) shares closed down 2/16 at 8-13/16 on Nasdaq Thursday.
After-hours quotes on CNNfn
Check S&P futures trading on Globex
No federal data is due on Friday. On Monday, the government releases its report on existing home sales for the month of May. 
-- from staff and wire reports.
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