Brocade Earnings Slip

Brocade Communications (BRCD

) posted $0.05 vs. $0.06 Q2 EPS

despite an 86% revenue rise. S&P maintains accumulate. Merrill reiterates near and long-term buy.

Network Appliance ( NTAP

) posted $0.02 vs. $0.07 Q4 EPS (pro forma) as higher operating expenses offset 13% revenue rise. S&P and CS First Boston maintain hold.

Lifeschultz Industries ( LIFF

) agreed to be acquired by Danaher Corp. (DHR

) in a deal valued at about $33M. Terms: $22.80 cash per Lifeschultz share.

Pre-paid Legal ( PPD

) trading was halted pending news. In a filing Tuesday, the company said the SEC warned that its accounting for commissions is not in line with GAAP.

Newmont Mining ( NEM

) is among the gold stocks trading higher on gold strength in Europe following Fed's interest rate cuts Tuesday.

APW Ltd. (APW

) says its sales outlook is uncertain, and that restricted access to the U.K. countryside due to foot & mouth disease have severely affected growth of its shelter business. Previous guidance is no longer valid.

Rite Aid Corp. (RAD

) announced a $3B refinancing package, including a new $1.9B senior secured credit facility. Rite Aid said the refinancing will have significantly reduced its debt and the amount of its debt maturing prior to March 2005.

BEA Systems (BEAS

) posted $0.08 vs. $0.03 Q1 EPS (pro forma) on a 67% revenue rise. CS First Boston reiterates strong buy. ABN Amro upgraded to buy from add.

Armor Holdings ( AH

) posted $0.13 vs. $0.19 Q1 EPS on higher expenses and a slight revenue rise.

Morgan Stanley downgraded Jabil Circuit ( JBL

) to neutral from outperform.

CIBC World downgraded Knight Trading ( NITE

) to hold from buy.

Sprint Fon Group (FON

) sees lower than expected $4.3B-$4.4B 2001 EBITDA, $0.28-$0.30 EPS, citing weaker than expected contributions from its Global Markets segment.

Acxiom Corp. ( ACXM

) posted in line $0.10 Q4 EPS on revs of $250M, before the effect of SAB 101 restatement and certain write-offs. However, Acxiom says to ensure that it able to achieve future projected results, the firm will cut spending by over $70M.

Krispy Kreme (KREM

) posted $0.20 vs. $0.13 Q1 EPS on 11% same store sales

rise (systemwide), 24% total revenue rise. The company raised its $0.69 fiscal 2002 guidance to $0.77 and raised its $0.86 fiscal 2003 to $1.00. DB Alex Brown upgraded to strong buy.

Applied Materials (AMAT

) posted $0.32 vs. $0.53 Q2 EPS (ongoing) on a 13% sales decline and narrowed gross margin.

Sawtek (SAWS

)agreed to be acquired by TriQuint Semiconductor (TQNT

) in a $1.3B deal. Terms: 1.1507 TriQuint shares per Sawteck share. S&P upgraded Sawtek to hold from avoid.

Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF

) posted $0.20 vs. $0.16 Q1 EPS on slightly higher same store sales and 29% higher total sales. The company is comfortable withconsensus $0.22 Q2 EPS estimate.

Lehman downgraded Check Point Software (CHKP

) to buy from strong buy. S&P maintains strong buy.

Goldman downgraded PMC-Sierra (PMCS

) Vitesse Semiconductor (VTSS

) and Applied Micro Circuits (AMCC

) to market outperform from trading buy.

Progenics Pharmaceutical (PGNX

) and Cytogen Corp. announced that in preclinical studies their experimental prostate cancer vaccine generated potent dual-immune response against PSMA (prostate specific membrane antigen).

QLogic (QLGC

) posted $0.28 vs. $0.18 Q4 EPS on 55% revenue rise. S&P upgraded to hold from avoid.

Mentor Corp.(MNTR

) posted $0.43 vs. $0.34 Q3 EPS from continuing operations on a 14% sales rise. In the year ahead, Mentor expects to achieve double-digit growth rates in revenues and EPS.

Pall Corp. (PLL

) sees $0.30 Q3 EPS due to the negative effect of foreign exchange rates. S&P maintains hold.

Sycamore Networks (SCMR

) posted a $0.19 Q3 loss vs. $0.02 EPS (pro forma) on 8.4%revenue decline. The company says visibility remains restricted.

Macromedia (MACR

) is in partnership with Sony Corp. to bring Macromedia's Flash Player to Sony's PlayStation2 computer entertainment system.

Realnetworks (RNWK

) is in an alliance with Sony Corp. to embed Real Network's RealPlayer 8, and other Real Network client technologies on Sony's PlayStation2.

Tiffany & Co. (TIF

) posted $0.20 vs. $0.20 Q1 EPS despite a 3% sales decline. The jewelery retailer sees Q2 in line with consensus, and mid-to-high single-digit U.S. second-half 2001 same-store sales growth.

Packaging Corp. America (PKG

) will be added to the S&P MidCap 400 Index after the close of trading on a date to be announced, replacing Chris-Craft Industries, which is being acquired.