Shares of Irvine-based Microsemi Corp., a maker of chips for aerospace, defense and industrial uses, slumped after the company gave an outlook for the current quarter that fell short of Wall Street’s expectations.
Investors sent shares down 7% in afterhours trading on a recent market value of about $840 million.
For the March quarter, Microsemi said it’s expecting profits of $12 million to $16 million on sales of $105 million to $110 million.
Analysts, on average, are looking for profits of $26 million on sales of $128 million.
The less-than-rosy outlook comes on the heels of Microsemi’s results for the December quarter, which were mixed.
Microsemi reported $131 million in revenue, down 3% from a year earlier and shy of Wall Street’s expectation of $132 million.
Excluding charges for idling factories, stock compensation, acquisitions and other costs, the company posted profits of $29 million, flat from a year ago but ahead of the $128 million analysts were looking for.
It’s been a tough few months for Microsemi.
Earlier this week the stock took a hit when an analyst cut his estimates for the chipmaker for all of 2009, due to “soft global demand” for Microsemi’s chips.
In mid-December, the company got slapped with an antitrust lawsuit from the Department of Justice. The suit claims the company’s $25 million buy of Costa Mesa-based Semicoa Semiconductors Inc. in July creates a monopoly on certain types of chips.
In early December, its shares got hammered after a tip buy a short-selling investor spurred an inquiry into Chief Executive Jim Peterson’s education background.
The background check alleged Peterson didn’t hold degrees from Brigham Young University as claimed on his official biography.
Microsemi’s board backed Peterson when checks with the university showed that he attended but didn’t graduate.
