RightNow Technologies Dip After Acquisition

NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of RightNow Technologies Inc. dipped Wednesday after the company announced an acquisition that it said will reduce its earnings per share this year.

RightNow, a Bozeman, Mont. company that makes software for managing customer relations, said late Tuesday it will pay $6 million in cash for HiveLive Inc., which helps build online communities for businesses aimed at better relationships with consumers.

RightNow said its customers have been "clamoring" for technology that can help them influence the way their businesses are perceived in social networks and tap them for product ideas.

But the company expects the acquisition to add about $1 million in costs per quarter as it adds HiveLive's 20 employees. RightNow cut its adjusted earnings estimate for 2009 to between 27 cents and 31 cents per share, down from a previous estimate of 29 cents to 33 cents. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were expecting 32 cents per share.

Wedbush Morgan analyst J. Derrick Wood, who has a "Neutral" rating on the stock, said HiveLive's technology could add value to the services RightNow provides. But he said the deal could also put a drag on the company's profit margins.

"We feel the slower margin expansion may be poorly received by investors," he told clients in a note Wednesday.

RightNow shares slid 31 cents, or 2.5 percent, to $12.19 in afternoon trading.