Vertex Drops on Quarterly Results

The company cites reduced revenue from its discovery tools and services business.

Author:: Meredith Derby
Publish date:: Nov 5, 2002 11:31 AM EST

Shares of

Vertex Pharmaceuticals

were down 14% after the company posted a third-quarter loss, citing reduced revenue from its discovery tools and services business.

The company also lowered its expectations for full-year 2002 earnings.

Recently, shares were down $3.04 to $17.80 on the news.

The company lost $33.5 million, or 44 cents a share, compared with a loss of $13.5 million, or 18 cents a share, in last year's quarter. Analysts were expecting the company to lose 30 cents a share.

Revenue was $34.3 million, compared with $40.4 million last year.

Looking to 2002, the Cambridge, Mass.-based company now expects to lose between $100 million and $110 million, compared with its original expectation of a loss of $80 million to $90 million. Analysts expect the company to lose $1.16 a share.