Still not sure about a Telecom Equipment slowdown? Perhaps tomorrow's prices will educate you: "
Lucent Says 4th-Quarter Earnings
Will Miss Already Reduced Estimates
A WSJ.COM News Roundup
MURRAY HILL, N.J. -- Lucent Technologies Inc., which in July warned
that fiscal fourth-quarter revenue and profit would be weaker than
expected, said late Tuesday that results will be even worse than it
projected.
The company's stock plummeted 20% in after-hours trading.
For the fiscal quarter ended Sept. 30, the
telecommunications-equipment manufacturer
said that it expects to report earnings from
operations of 17 cents to 18 cents a share on
revenue of $9.3 billion to $9.4 billion. The
mean estimate of analysts surveyed by First
Call/Thomson Financial was for earnings of 27
cents a share. Prior to the July warning,
analysts had expected Lucent to earn 42 cents
a share.
As it did in July, Lucent, blamed less-than-expected sales of optical gear,
which routes Web traffic at lightning speed, and softening of Lucent's core
telephone-switch market, which accounts for 15% to 20% of its revenue.
The industry is replacing the switches with cheaper, more efficient gear.
Lucent also cited credit concerns for some of its customers, which led to
and increase in reserves for bad debts.
Revenue from optical-networking systems, including optical fiber, fell about
5%, while revenue from switching systems fell about 13%. However,
Lucent said it saw strong revenue growth in its Microelectronics and
Internet infrastructure businesses.
Lucent's stock fell $1, or 3.1%, to $31.31 in 4 p.m. composite trading on
the New York Stock Exchange. At about 5:20 p.m. EDT in after-hours
trading, Lucent plunged $6.38, or 20%, to $25, according to MarketXT. |
