Opnext Shares Take A Hit After 2Q Results

NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of Opnext Inc. took a hit Tuesday after the company posted a fiscal second-quarter loss as higher costs and charges outweighed a slight increase in revenue.

The results missed Wall Street's expectations, and the company also gave a disappointing sales forecast for the current quarter because of a slowdown in an important business segment.

Opnext, which makes fiber-optic communication network products, posted a net loss of $17.9 million, or 20 cents per share for the quarter, down from a profit of $1.2 million, or 2 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier.

Excluding charges, the company lost 10 cents per share in the latest quarter, which ended Sept. 30.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected, on average, a loss of 7 cents per share.

Jefferies analyst William Choi downgraded the company to "Underperform" from "Buy" and said he does not expect the company to return to profitability in 2010. He lowered his target price to $2 from $3.