CMVT Implodes On Stunning Warning:
Comverse shares tumble on earnings warning
NEW YORK, July 11 (Reuters) - Shares in Comverse Technology Inc. (NasdaqNM:CMVT - news) plummeted by more than a third on Wednesday, a day after the telecommunications software maker warned earnings for the remainder of 2001 would be below Wall Street estimates because of a slowdown in customer spending.
Comverse stock sank more than 38 percent, or $15.09, to $23.93 in heavy morning trade on Nasdaq where the stock was both the most actively traded issue and the biggest net loser.
After the market closed on Tuesday, Comverse said it expected earnings to be about 28 cents a share for the second quarter ending July 31 compared to Wall Street's average estimate of 43 cents a share, as polled by Thomson Financial/First Call.
The Israeli-American company, with headquarters in Woodbury, New York, said the 28 cents excluded a previously announced one-time charge of up to $9 million for a recent work force reduction and up to $15 million for investment write-downs.
Comverse also said it expected third-quarter earnings of about 20 cents and fourth-quarter earnings of about 23 cents, excluding one-time charges. Analysts were expecting 45 cents for the third quarter and 48 cents a share for the fourth quarter, according to First Call.
The news prompted one brokerage, Credit Suisse First Boston, to cut its stock rating for Comverse to hold from buy.
For fiscal 2002, the Comverse said it expected earnings per share growth of 20 percent to $1.37, less than the consensus analyst estimate of $1.79 a share.
The company said it expected second-quarter sales would be about $345 million, while sales for the third and fourth quarters will be $330 million and $340 million, respectively. For fiscal 2002, the company estimates $1.53 billion in sales.
``Although most of our products support profitable, revenue-generating services, and are considered strategic competitive weapons for communication service providers, the capital spending recession and macro-economic slowdown appears to have spread throughout the developed world, and conditions have continued to deteriorate,'' Comverse's Chairman and Chief Executive Kobi Alexander said in a statement on Tuesday. |
