Miss Musses Lucent's Hair and Shares

In fact, Lucent's lack of visibility into two of its biggest sales markets, China and the U.S., and its ham-handed disclosure gave some observers a little déjà vu.

"Both the sheer magnitude of the miss and the relatively late date, two weeks into the quarter that the miss was uncovered, strikes us as remarkable and reminiscent of Lucent's 13% miss on July 15, 2003," says JP Morgan Chase analyst Ehud Gelblum in a research note Friday. Gelblum has a sell rating on Lucent.

Some investors say they have a hard time figuring out how Lucent can lift itself out of its persistent slump.

"It's going to be a difficult year," says one money manager who has no Lucent position. "They've executed on cost cutting side, but they are in a tough place on a technology side," says the investor.

Though Lucent fans expect some hot and cold times on the wireless front, it's the other half of the company's product line that offers little reason for optimism. "Their core wireline business is moving away from them, and that's not going to change," says the money manager.

After sinking near a one-year low in the wake of the warning, the shares were off 4% in midafternoon action at $2.60.

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