i2 Gains on Q4 Outlook

i2 Technologies, Inc. was up 1.19 at 41.94 early Tuesday after the e-commerce software maker said fourth-quarter revenue and earnings will beat analysts' forecasts.

i2 said it expects revenue to top US$370 million, which is above the $342 million predicted by analysts. Revenue for the full year, the company said, will be more than $1.1 billion, as license revenue for the quarter and year more than doubled.

The Dallas, Texas-based company said strong sales of its TradeMatrix products boosted revenue in the quarter and the year. The company's software powers business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce exchanges.

Operating income, before extraordinary charges and amortization, "strongly exceeded" analysts' $51 million consensus, i2 said.

i2 plans to report results after the close of trading on January 17th. According to First Call/Thompson Financial, analysts expect the company to earn 8 cents per share in the fourth quarter.

In the second quarter, i2 reported income before amortization and charges of $28.8 million, or 12 cents per fully diluted share, up from $10 million, or 6 cents per share, in the year-earlier quarter. Revenue rose 118 percent from a year earlier to $320 million, which included $202 million in license revenue.

i2 recently announced plans to build its content services offerings with the acquisition of Trade Services Holdings' content divisions.

i2 is buying Trade Service Corp., which provides information on 5.2 million items to a subscriber base of 24,000 North American manufacturers, suppliers, distributors and contractors, and Ec-content, which develops and manages content for digital marketplaces, e-procurement and supplier syndication.