Emulex Stock Falls on News of Lower Forecasts

Emulex Corp. shares fell 9.1% Wednesday, a day after the Costa Mesa computer circuit-card maker posted a fourth-quarter loss, including acquisition costs, and cut its first-quarter sales and profit forecasts because of sluggish demand.

Emulex shares, which have lost 71% of their value this year, declined $2.33 to $23.36 on Nasdaq, dropping as low as $22.69 during the session.

“I think what they said yesterday was a little more negative than people were expecting,” said James Corridore, a Standard & Poor’s Equity Services analyst, who rates Emulex “accumulate.”

Emulex had a fourth-quarter loss of $31.3 million, or 38 cents a share, compared with net income of $9.6 million, or a split-adjusted 12 cents, a year earlier.

Excluding $40.3 million in expenses for the acquisition of Giganet Inc. and for deferred compensation, the company said it would have had fourth-quarter profit of $9 million, or 11 cents a share.