Friday's Tech Winners & Losers

Shares of WebMethods(WEBM Quote) were among technology's losers Friday, plunging 26% after the software company slashed its first-quarter estimates.

For the period ended June 30, the company now sees a first-quarter loss of 12 cents to 15 cents a share, compared with an earlier view that called for a profit of 1 cent to 5 cents a share. The company now projects revenue of $44 million to $45.5 million, down from an earlier forecast of $51 million to $53 million. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call project earnings of 7 cents a share and revenue of $52.5 million. WebMethods also lowered its forecast for license revenue to $11.5 million to $12.5 million from an earlier view of $18.5 million to $20 million.

"We are obviously disappointed with our first-quarter results," the company said. "Our preliminary analysis indicates that we failed to effectively anticipate additional steps in the customer-procurement processes associated with a number of our forecasted transactions." WebMethods plans to release its first-quarter results on July 27. Shares were trading down $2.54 to $7.04.

O2Micro International(OIIM Quote) slumped 15% after the company projected second-quarter revenue below expectations. The company, a supplier of security components and systems to the computer and communications industries, estimated a sequential sales decline of 3% to 4%. Based on first-quarter revenue of $29.1 million, the projection implies second-quarter revenue of $27.9 million to $28.2 million. Analysts had forecast revenue of $30.4 million.

O2Micro blamed the weaker-than-expected estimate on a slowdown in sales of LCD monitors, LCD TVs and notebooks. O2Micro also expects to post a loss during the quarter. The company said that its results were hurt by higher-than-expected litigation costs and an impairment loss from its investment in CSMC Technologies. Analysts project earnings of 4 cents a share. Shares were trading down $1.19 to $6.68.