Today's Winners and Losers

Return to Article

Today's Tech Winners and Losers

Mark Martinez

Shares of M-Systems(FLSH Quote) were among technology's winners Wednesday, rising 8% after the flash memory company said its first-quarter revenue would be higher than its original guidance.

The company said revenue will exceed the $140 million to $170 million range it previously forecast. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call project revenue of $156.9 million. The company expects earnings, before stock-based compensation costs, to be more than 16 cents a share. Analysts project earnings of 21 cents a share. M-Systems plans to issue its first-quarter results on April 26. Shares were trading up $2.21 to $28.40.

Shares of Richardson Electronics(RELL Quote) plunged 19% after the company said it would restate its financial results because of accounting errors at one of its Italian subsidiaries. The company also announced the resignation of Arthur Buckland, the company's president and chief operating officer. Buckland's resignation comes less than three months after he took the job.

Richardson Electronics said it doesn't yet know which financial reporting periods will be affected by the mistakes, but it expects the errors will reduce shareholders' equity by about $3 million to $4 million. Additionally, the company is evaluating the adequacy of its accounting for income taxes in certain foreign jurisdictions, it said. As a result of the accounting errors, the company said it won't be able to file its 10-Q report for the period ended March 4 with the Securities and Exchange Commission by the filing deadline.

As for Buckland's resignation, which is effective immediately, the company said he is leaving the company to pursue personal interests. Chairman and Chief Executive Edward Richardson will assume Buckland's responsibilities until a permanent replacement is found. The company's shares were down $1.79 to $7.44.

SupportSoft(SPRT Quote) fell 8% after the software company warned that first-quarter revenue would be well below Wall Street's expectation. The company sees revenue of about $8 million, while analysts had forecast revenue of $14.6 million. "SupportSoft believes its business was significantly affected by a few sizeble license transactions that were not completed by quarter end and by the recently announced transition in the company's leadership, among other factors," the company said. The company plans to post earnings on April 27. Shares were trading down 36 cents to $3.93.

Maxtor(MXO Quote) fell 3% after the hard drive maker put its first-quarter results below expectations and said it would eliminate 900 jobs in Singapore. The company sees a first-quarter loss of $100 million to $104 million, or 39 cents to 40 cents a share. Analysts project a smaller loss of 18 cents a share. Maxtor estimates revenue of $875 million to $885 million, compared with Wall Street's forecast of $964.6 million. The company said it was hurt by lower-than-expected unit volume growth and by marginal merger-related market share losses. The company, which is being acquired by Seagate Technology(STX Quote), also said that it was unable to realize some component cost improvements that it had expected.

As a result of the lower volume growth, Maxtor said it cut its production schedule during the first quarter. As a result, the company will eliminate the 900 positions at its Singapore plant over the next several weeks, it said. Maxtor expects to take a $6 million reserve related to the job cuts. Shares were trading down 33 cents to $9.75. Seagate shares fell 80 cents, or 3%, to $26.89.

Shares of United Online(UNTD Quote) rose 2.5% after Standard & Poor's said it plans to add the Internet-service provider to its S&P SmallCap 600 index after the close of trading on April 10. United Online will replace Burlington Coat Factory(BCF Quote), which is being acquired by Bain Capital Partners. Shares of United Online were trading up 32 cents to $13.11.

Other technology movers included Lucent Technologies(LU Quote), up 6 cents to $3.10; Apple Computer(AAPL Quote), up $4.26 to $65.43; Ciena(CIEN Quote), down 7 cents to $4.84; Intel(INTC Quote), up 4 cents to $19.34; Oracle(ORCL Quote), up 15 cents to $13.99; Microsoft(MSFT Quote), up 3 cents to $27.67; Sun Microsystems(SUNW Quote), unchanged at $5.11; JDS Uniphase(JDSU Quote), up 1 cent to $3.92; Applied Materials(AMAT Quote), up 29 cents to $18.05; and Cisco Systems(CSCO Quote), up 18 cents to $21.74.