Hot stocks: Tractor trails

May 15, 2001: 4:25 p.m. ET

Shares of Deere tumble amid profit warning but AMD gains

NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Stocks in Deere fell more than 6 percent Tuesday after the heavy equipment maker said profit in the current quarter will miss estimates. But shares of Advanced Micro Devices gained nearly 8 percent amid news that the company has developed two new chips.

Tuesday's losers
Deere (DE: down $2.49 to $38.52, Research, Estimates). The farm and construction equipment maker known for its tractors reported fiscal second-quarter results that fell well short of lowered Wall Street forecasts.

Zale (ZLC: down $2.20 to $32.30, Research, Estimates). The jewelry retailer said fiscal third-quarter earnings fell more than 50 percent from the same period a year earlier, as expected, due to a slowdown in consumer spending. The company also said it expects profit to be flat in the next fiscal year.

Verity (VRTY: down $4.45 to $15.45, Research, Estimates). Wit SoundView downgraded the company, which makes Internet and extranet portals, to "hold" from "strong buy."

Baltimore Technologies (BALT: down $0.56 to $2.01, Research, Estimates). The Irish Internet security company said it would cut 250 jobs, around 18 percent of its work force, and forecast only "modest" revenue growth.

Ciena (CIEN: down $4.51 to $55.44, Research, Estimates). Lehman Brothers said it expects the fiber-optics maker to meet estimates for its current quarter, but that it could end up at the middle to lower end of the estimates range for the full fiscal year ending in October.

Motorola (MOT: down $0.78 to $14.96, Research, Estimates). The No. 2 maker of cell phones said in a statement to the Securities and Exchange Commission that Turkish mobile phone operator Telsim missed an April 30 deadline for a $728 million loan payment, part of a total of about $2 billion owed. Motorola also said it won contracts totaling $407 million to provide CDMA technology to China Unicom.

Hain Celestial Group (HAIN: down $1.44 to $22.46, Research, Estimates). The natural foods maker said late Monday that its fiscal third-quarter profit slid, missing Wall Street estimates by a wide margin. The company reported a profit of 12 cents a share for the quarter, while Wall Street analysts expected earnings of 28 cents a share.

Computer Sciences (CSC: down $1.00 to $36.60, Research, Estimates). The supplier of information technology services reported a fiscal fourth-quarter operating profit that was in line with its recently reduced forecast, and said it expects earnings to fall below expectations for the current quarter.

Corvis (CORV: down $0.26 to $6.80, Research, Estimates). The maker of telecommunications gear said it plans to eliminate 250 positions at its U.S. operations as part of an effort to streamline initiatives and reduce operating expenses.

Wal-Mart Stores (WMT: down $2.35 to $52.00, Research, Estimates). The retailer reported profit of 31 cents a share Tuesday, in line with lowered Wall Street forecasts. Wal-Mart shares rose late last week ahead of its quarterly profit report.

Tuesday's winners
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD: up $1.94 to $29.14, Research, Estimates). The chip maker unveiled two new chips optimized for notebooks, the fastest growing area of the personal computer market.

Satyam Computers (SAY: up $2.46 to $11.80, Research, Estimates). Shares of India's fourth-largest software services exporter rose in their first day of trading after being priced at $9.71 a share late Monday.

Healthcare.com (HCDC: up $0.66 to $2.29, Research, Estimates). The maker of software for the health care business rose after XCare.net (XCAR: down $0.50 to $7.00, Research, Estimates), an electronic commerce service provider for health care businesses, said it would buy the company for an undisclosed amount. Under the deal, Healthcare.com holders will receive 0.375 share of XCare.net common stock for each share of common stock.

Pacific Sunwear of California (PSUN: up $2.57 to $23.07, Research, Estimates). Merrill Lynch, UBS Warburg and Wedbush Morgan upgraded the teen-oriented apparel retailer, which late Monday said it expects earnings to growth 20 percent in the second half of the year.

Qualcomm (QCOM: up $2.73 to $59.65, Research, Estimates); Lucent Technologies (LU: down $0.06 to $9.65, Research, Estimates). China Unicom (CHU: up $0.32 to $15.02, Research, Estimates), China's No. 2 telecom, has awarded contracts valued at a total of $1.5 billion to 10 foreign and domestic companies -- including Lucent -- to purchase code division multiple access (CDMA) equipment to build up its wireless network. Qualcomm developed the technology and receives royalty payments for the sale of products based on it.

Siebel Systems (SEBL: up $1.47 to $42.71, Research, Estimates). SG Cowen initiated coverage of the e-commerce software company with a "strong buy" rating and a 12-month price target of $50. While Cowen generally expects business software stocks to be weak near term, it believes Siebel will remain relatively strong.

Sycamore Networks (SCMR: down $0.07 to $9.32, Research, Estimates). The networking equipment maker is due to report quarterly results after the bell Tuesday.

VeriSign (VRSN: up $0.18 to $51.54, Research, Estimates). The U.S. Department of Commerce expects to reach agreement with the Internet registrar that extends the company's control over the popular ".com" Web address suffix.

Brocade Communications Systems (BRCD: up $2.41 to $42.50, Research, Estimates). The fiber-optics maker is expected to report earnings after the bell Tuesday.

Home Depot (HD: up $0.95 to $50.10, Research, Estimates). The home improvement retailer reported first-quarter earnings of 27 cents a share Tuesday, flat with a year earlier and two cents above Wall Street forecasts.

Protein Design Labs (PDLI: up $4.37 to $59.87, Research, Estimates). The developer of antibodies to treat diseases late Monday reported a sharp jump in first-quarter earnings, beating Wall Street expectations, as surging revenue outpaced increased costs of research and development.

-- from staff and wire reports