Cerner Guides Under Street Estimates

Shares of Cerner (CERN Quote), a purveyor of technology for storing and managing health-care information, took a dive Friday after the firm guided just under Wall Street targets for the current quarter.

The North Kansas City, Mo.-based company Thursday evening reported making $41.3 million, or 49 cents a share, in the fourth quarter. These results are a slight increase from year-earlier figures of $39.1 million, or 50 cents a share.

Adjusting for a number of beneficial and injurious items -- stock options, special tax effects and a one-time R&D writeoff -- earnings came to $43.3 million, or 52 cents a share. Analysts were looking for 51 cents a share, according to Thomson Financial. ...