| Tech Stock News and Analysis |
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| Tuesday, May 23, 2006 |
| Shares of Fargo Electronics (FRGO:Nasdaq) were among technology's winners Tuesday, climbing 53% after the developer of secure-card systems agreed to be acquired by HID Global for $25.50 a share in cash. The deal, which values Fargo at about $326 million, represents a 57% premium to the company's Monday closing price of $16.23. HID, which is part of ASSA ABLOY's Global Technologies division, said that it expects the acquisition to close during the third quarter. "We're looking forward to becoming part of HID," Fargo said. "This is a positive step for both ASSA ABLOY and for Fargo stockholders, and it is exciting for Fargo's customers and employees as well." Shares of Fargo Electronics were trading up $8.57 to $24.80. Tech Data (TECD:Nasdaq) rose 5% after the company posted in-line first-quarter earnings and issued a higher-than-expected second-quarter revenue projection. The computer-products distributor posted earnings of $12.9 million, or 23 cents a share, on revenue of $4.94 billion. Excluding items, the company reported earnings from continuing operations of $18 million, or 32 cents a share. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call expected earnings of 32 cents a share and revenue of $4.91 billion. A year earlier, the company earned $33.5 million, or 56 cents a share, on revenue of $5.06 billion. For the second quarter, Tech Data sees earnings of 30 cents to 36 cents a share on revenue of $4.95 billion to $5.1 billion. Analysts project earnings of 37 cents a share and revenue of $4.84 billion. Shares were trading up $1.58 to $36.56. Shares of F5 Networks (FFIV:Nasdaq) fell 1% after the switch maker said it received a grand jury subpoena from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York requesting documents related to the company's stock options grants. Separately, the company also was notified that it is being informally probed by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC is seeking documents related to stock options that were granted from January 1997 to present. F5 said it intends to cooperate fully with both entities. Meanwhile, the company has launched its own review of the stock option grants. Shares were down 59 cents to $51.76. Sycamore Networks (SCMR:Nasdaq) rose 6% after the company posted better-than-expected fiscal third-quarter results. For the quarter ended April 28, the network-equipment maker reported earnings of $10.5 million, or 4 cents a share. Excluding stock-based compensation costs, the company posted earnings of $12.3 million, or 4 cents a share, topping analysts' average forecast by a penny. Sycamore's revenue totaled $22.9 million, above Wall Street's target of $20.3 million. Last year, the company posted a third-quarter pro forma loss of $500,000, or less than a penny a share, on revenue of $17.8 million. Separately, Sycamore said it is being formally investigated by the SEC for stock option grants from 1999 through 2001. The company, which previously investigated the option grants and restated financial results for 2000 through the first two quarters of fiscal 2005, said that it plans to fully cooperate with the SEC. Shares were up 25 cents to $4.33. Shares of Zoran (ZRAN:Nasdaq) , meanwhile, rose 5% after the chipmaker said it did not backdate certain option grants from August 1998 through September 2001. The company issued a press release addressing the option grants after the Center for Financial Research and Analysis identified the company -- along with a host of other companies -- as being "at risk for having backdated option grants." After conducting a review of the identified grants, Zoran said it concluded that none of the grants involved backdating. "Management has also conducted a broader review of all other option grants made to the company's officers since Zoran's initial public offering in 1995 and has reported to the audit committee that, in the option of management, all such grants have also been properly made," the company said. Shares were trading up $1.10 to $23.80. Other technology movers included Sun Microsystems (SUNW:Nasdaq) , down 15 cents to $4.39; JDSU (JDSU:Nasdaq) , up 15 cents to $2.93; Microsoft (MSFT:Nasdaq) , up 25 cents to $23.13; Intel (INTC:Nasdaq) , up 1 cent to $18.02; Lucent Technologies (LU:NYSE) , up 4 cents to $2.56; Cisco Systems (CSCO:Nasdaq) , up 25 cents to $20.85; Apple Computer (AAPL:Nasdaq) , up 74 cents to $64.12; Dell (DELL:Nasdaq) , down 19 cents to $24.19; Oracle (ORCL:Nasdaq) , up 4 cents to $13.59; and Applied Materials (AMAT:Nasdaq) , up 5 cents to $16.92. |
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