Shares of Advanced Medical Optics Inc. fell Monday as the Santa Ana maker of eye surgery devices and contact lens solutions posted second-quarter earnings that missed analysts’ expectations.
Shares fell as much as 14% in early trading before recovering midday. They closed up 5%. The company counts a market value of about $1 billion.
Advanced Medical also issued mixed guidance for 2008, cutting its profit forecast in the wake of weak demand for laser vision correction, but reiterating its sales expectations.
For the second quarter, Advanced Medical swung to $14.6 million in profit from a $166.8 million loss a year earlier. Net income, including a pair of gains related to restructuring and a cross-licensing deal, was $22 million.
Analysts expected the company to make $16.4 million.
Sales for the quarter were up almost 23% to $320.5 million, including a 44% gain in international sales that countered a decline in domestic sales.
For the year, Advanced Medical says it expects to make $61 million to $69.9 million before special items, down from a previous forecast of $76 million to $88.2 million.
The company said the weak U.S. economy hurt demand for laser vision correction procedures, forecasting a 25% drop from year-ago levels. It reiterated its previous sales forecast of $1.22 billion to $1.24 billion.
Wall Street expects Advanced Medical to make $73 million on sales of $1.23 billion in 2008.
Advanced Medical competes with Bausch & Lomb’s surgical business as well as Alcon Inc., a Nestl & #233; SA unit with some 670 workers in Irvine.
