Shares of Newport Beach-based agricultural chemical specialist American Vanguard Corp. traded lower Friday after it warned of lower than expected earnings.
Its stock price closed down 15% on Friday, giving it a market value of about $250 million.
It didn’t give specific guidance, though the company said its profit would be flat from a year earlier as its sales are seen coming in lower.
Last year for the second quarter, American Vanguard earned $4.3 million with sales of more than $47 million.
Wall Street was looking for the company to earn about $5.25 million on sales of about $61.5 million.
American Vanguard makes chemicals that help farmers keep bugs off crops.
Second-quarter results, due Aug. 6, will be affected by fewer orders from farmers, the company said in a release.
Profit will also take a hit from a weak corn crop coming from the Midwest for the second year in a row, as well as startup costs from a new manufacturing process it adopted, it said.
American Vanguard isn’t forecasting what it will do for the rest of the year as it undergoes a seasonable shift to selling its soil fumigants and mosquito control products, it said.
For the first quarter, sales rose 9% from the previous year to $44.6 million as it earned $700,000, down nearly 60%.
