Marconi Plummets on Warning

Marconi (MONI - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) was down 50.4% in preopen Island trading after the company warned last night its 2002 operating profit would be down about 50% from last year's profit of 702 million pounds ($985.6 million). The telecom equipment maker said sales would be about 15% lower than the year-ago period.

The company also said it would cut 4,000 jobs, including 1,000 management positions.

A host of analysts, including those from Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, UBS Warburg, cut ratings and estimates on the stock this morning. Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to neutral from outperform.

The FTSE 100 company suspended trading of its shares in Europe Wednesday prior to the post-close warning. Ericsson (ERICY - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) was down 9.4% in preopen Instinet trading and Nokia (NOK - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) was down 7.6%.