Lucent Warns; lower than expected gross margins
NEW YORK, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Lucent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: LU), the world's largest telecommunications equipment maker, on Thursday said it expects its first quarter profits to be below Wall Street expectations on flat revenue growth due to changes in customer purchasing habits, lower software revenues and lower-than-expected gross margins.
Lucent's expected first quarter shortfall marks a drastic shift from its previously stellar track record. Until now, Lucent had exceeded Wall Street's forecasts every quarter since it was spun off from AT&T Corp. in 1996.
Murray Hill, N.J.-based Lucent said it expects earnings for the quarter ended Dec. 31 to be in the range of 36 cents to 39 cents a share, compared with 48 cents a share a year ago. Wall Street had expected Lucent to earn 54 cents a share in the first quarter, according to research firm First Call/Thomson Financial.
Lucent expects its revenues to be in the range of $9.8 billion to $9.9 billion, which is flat compared to the year-ago quarter.
"We are clearly disappointed with the results for the quarter," Lucent Chairman Richard McGinn said in a statement.
Lucent cited several factors for the expected shortfall, including changes in equipment implementation plans by a number of customers; lower software revenues due to the fact that many customers are now spreading their purchases out throughout the year; and near-term manufacturing capacity and deployment constraints. |
