The fourth quarter ended on an upbeat note just two months ago for many of Orange County’s largest public companies. But it could end up seeming like years ago when those same companies start reporting results for the first quarter.
In recent weeks, several of the county’s largest public companies reported strong gains in sales and profits for the fourth quarter.
But many of those reports were coupled with warnings or cautious outlooks for the current quarter, as executives try to get a handle on what a slowing economy means for their businesses.
Not all are downbeat about the current quarter.
Some companies, including Western Digital Corp. and Apria Healthcare Group Inc., both of Lake Forest, recently upped their quarterly or yearly outlooks.
In all, about half a dozen of the biggest public companies are predicting good first-quarter profits. Still others have expressed mild caution.
A handful of others have been more direct. Santa Ana’s Advanced Medical Optics Inc. and Costa Mesa’s Ceradyne Inc. warned about the current quarter and announced layoffs to deal with slowdowns in their businesses.
Two hard-hit companies tied to the housing market,Irvine’s Standard Pacific Corp. and Newport Beach’s Downey Financial Corp.,haven’t offered guidance on the quarter. But analysts expect things to get worse before they get better for the two.
For more on this story, see the March 3 edition of the Business Journal.
