3rd-Quarter Earnings Will Be Lower Than Expected, Western Digital Says
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IRVINE — Western Digital Corp., the computer hardware maker, reported Wednesday that earnings for its current quarter would be “significantly below” analysts’ expectations, sending its stock plunging by nearly 20%.
The Irvine-based company blamed the lower profit on slumping sales of 3.5-inch hard disk drives.
“Severe competitive pricing pressures . . . commenced three weeks ago and have intensified since then,” company President Charles A. Haggerty said in a prepared statement. “This abnormal deep discounting has had a ripple effect.”
The company said that for the third quarter ending March 27, earnings will be far lower than the 20-cent to 26-cent-a-share expectations by Wall Street. The company did not specify what per-share earnings were expected. But following the statement, some analysts revised their expectation to the 6-cent to 10-cent range.
Company spokesman Robert J. Blair said the announcement sent the company’s stock plummeting 18% on the New York Stock Exchange to close at $6.625 a share.
