BRIEFLY / TECHNOLOGY : PairGain Says Quarterly Profit to Fall Short

PairGain Technologies Inc. warned that its earnings for the third quarter will fall “well below” expected results because of sluggish sales in its core lines of telecommunications equipment. The announcement came after U.S. markets closed, a session that saw the Tustin-based company’s stock surge 23% in heavy trading on a report that PairGain was close to securing a contract to supply MCI WorldCom Inc. with communications equipment. PairGain executives declined to comment on the increase in the stock price or on the WorldCom report, which came from an analyst at Dain Rauscher Wessels in Minneapolis. The stock moved up $2.38 to close at $12.88 in heavy Nasdaq trading. Analysts had expected PairGain to earn 2 cents a share in the third quarter, according to a survey by First Call Corp. In the year-earlier period, the company earned $12 million, or 16 cents a share. PairGain is trying to move into higher-margin digital subscriber line products and said that it would begin shipping them later this month and begin high-volume production soon after.