Synaptics' Earnings Slide

Sales and earnings slumped at Synaptics (SYNA Quote - Cramer on SYNA - Stock Picks) in the company's third quarter, coming in below the Street's estimates.

And the maker of PC and electronics interface products had more bad news to boot, offering disappointing sales guidance for its fourth quarter.

Investors reacted negatively to the news, which followed the bell on Thursday. In recent after-hours trading, Synaptics' stock was off about 2% to $25.

In the quarter ended March 31, Synaptics earned $1.6 million, or 6 cents a share, on $40.4 million in sales. That result was far off that of the year-ago period, when the company earned $11.7 million, or 38 cents a share, on sales of $56.7 million.

Excluding stock options costs, Syanptics would have earned $4.1 million, or 15 cents a share, in the most recent quarter.

On this basis, analysts polled by Thomson First Call were expecting the company to earn 18 cents a share on sales of $43.9 million. Synaptics had previously forecast sales of between $42 million and $45 million but had not predicted earnings for the period.

Looking forward, Synaptics expects sales of up to about $44.4 million in the current, June quarter and of $48.9 million to $53.3 million in the September quarter. The company declined to give an earnings outlook for those periods.

The Street had previously predicted that the company would post a profit of 19 cents a share on $45.9 million in sales in its fourth quarter and earnings of 24 cents a share on $51.5 million in sales in the first quarter of its next fiscal year.

Shares of Synaptics closed regular trading on Thursday off 11 cents, or less than 1%, to $25.39.