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| Friday, June 02, 2006 |
| Shares of Black Box (BBOX:Nasdaq) were among technology's losers Friday, tumbling 19% after the computer-networking equipment company posted disappointing fourth-quarter results and said it recently discovered accounting irregularities in its Italian operations. For the period ended March 31, the company earned $4.7 million, or 26 cents a share, on revenue of $174.9 million. Excluding charges and other one-time items, the company earned $9.6 million, or 53 cents a share. One analyst polled by Thomson First Call expected earnings of 75 cents a share and revenue of $186.3 million. During the year-earlier quarter, the company earned $34,000, or less than a penny a share, on revenue of $157.2 million. Excluding items, year-earlier earnings were $6.8 million, or 39 cents a share. Included in the company's most recent fourth-quarter results was a $7.1 million pretax charge, which was related to an adjustment for the years between fiscal 2003 and fiscal 2006 in the company's Italian operations. Specifically, Black Box said the adjustment "resulted from intentional misconduct by certain local operations and financial management of the company's Italian operations acting in collusion with one another for the purpose of overstating local financial results." Black Box said that all members of the management team have been fired and that it plans to pursue available legal remedies against the individuals. "The company believes that all accounting irregularities have been identified, corrective action taken, and that the Italian operations adjustment captures all necessary corrections," Black Box said. Looking ahead, Black Box sees fiscal 2007 revenue of about $1 billion. The company predicts earnings of 90 cents to 95 cents a share by the second quarter, with revenue of $265 million to $275 million. One analyst projects second-quarter earnings of 98 cents a share and revenue of $286.3 million. Shares were down $10.43 to $43.50. Plato Learning (TUTR:Nasdaq) fell 6% after the provider of computer-based educational products posted a wider-than-expected second-quarter loss. For the quarter ended April 30, the company reported a loss of $5.9 million, or 25 cents a share, on revenue of $20 million. Excluding items, the loss was $5.6 million, or 24 cents a share. Analysts expected a loss of 2 cents a share on revenue of $19.7 million. Last year, the company posted an adjusted second-quarter loss of $2.3 million, or 10 cents a share, on revenue of $31.4 million. Plato projected a fiscal 2006 loss of $6.5 million to $11.5 million, with a 15% to 20% decline in revenue. Analysts predict a profit of 4 cents a share and revenue of $103.2 million, or a revenue decline of about 15%. For fiscal 2005, the company reported a loss of $8.5 million on revenue of $121.8 million. Shares were down 45 cents to $6.42. Despite posting a wider-than-expected first-quarter loss, shares of SeaChange International (SEAC:Nasdaq) jumped 13% after the company forecast "significant" revenue growth during the coming quarters. For the quarter ended April 30, the company posted a loss of $4.4 million, or 15 cents a share, on revenue of $33.2 million. Analysts expected a loss of 8 cents a share on revenue of $34.5 million. A year earlier, the company reported a loss of $578,000, or 2 cents a share, on revenue of $31.5 million. Looking ahead, SeaChange expects its video-on-demand business to grow significantly during the current quarter, which ends July 31. What's more, the company said, it expects to have a generally strong second quarter and a return to positive earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. "We expect the first half of this year will be better than the second half of last year, and the second half of this year will be better still," the company said. Analysts project a second-quarter loss of 7 cents a share on revenue of $35.9 million. Shares were trading at $7.08, up 85 cents. Wind River Systems (WIND:Nasdaq) slid 6% after the software company posted weaker-than-expected first-quarter results and projected second-quarter results below analysts' forecast. The company recorded a first-quarter loss of $2.1 million, or 2 cents a share, widened from $1.8 million, or 2 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding items, the company earned 3 cents a share, a penny below Wall Street's projection. Revenue rose to $65 million from $61.8 million, below analysts' expectation of $66.4 million. For the second quarter, Wind River sees adjusted earnings, which exclude items, of 4 cents to 5 cents a share. The company predicts revenue of $66 million to $68 million. Analysts project earnings of 10 cents a share and revenue of $72.8 million. For fiscal 2007, the company sees adjusted earnings of 38 cents to 43 cents a share, in line with analysts' estimate of 40 cents. Wind River forecast revenue of $290 million to $300 million, compared with Wall Street's projection of $295.5 million. Shares were trading down 51 cents to $8.76. Shares of Micron Technology (MU:NYSE) fell 3% after the chipmaker said it is prepared to raise the exchange ratio that each Lexar Media (LEXR:Nasdaq) share would receive in the merger between the two companies. Micron said it would raise the exchange ratio to 0.5925 shares of Micron from 0.5625 shares. Micron said that it believes "there is sufficient Lexar shareholders support for the merger at the revised exchange ratio." Lexar shareholders, who were supposed to meet today to vote on the acquisition, will now meet June 16. Shares of Micron were trading down 46 cents to $16.41, while shares of Lexar fell 33 cents to $9.60. Other technology movers included Microsoft (MSFT:Nasdaq) , down 3 cents to $22.79; Intel (INTC:Nasdaq) , up 2 cents to $18.06; Cisco Systems (CSCO:Nasdaq) , down 5 cents to $20.45; Sun Microsystems (SUNW:Nasdaq) , down 8 cents to $4.47; JDSU (JDSU:Nasdaq) , down 3 cents to $3.06; Sirius Satellite Radio (SIRI:Nasdaq) , down 15 cents to $4.36; Ciena (CIEN:Nasdaq) , up 20 cents to $4.69; Juniper Networks (JNPR:Nasdaq) , down 43 cents to $17.04; Apple Computer (AAPL:Nasdaq) , down 68 cents to $61.49; Oracle (ORCL:Nasdaq) , down 4 cents to $14.18; Dell (DELL:Nasdaq) , up 13 cents to $25.93; Applied Materials (AMAT:Nasdaq) , down 23 cents to $16.93; and Lucent Technologies (LU:NYSE) , down 1 cent to $2.58. |
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