Shares of Costa Mesa-based Emulex Corp., which makes host bus adapters that link computers on data networks, plunged Thursday after the company gave a weaker-than-expected outlook for the current quarter.
For the September quarter, Emulex said it expects sales of $115 million to $118 million. Analysts are looking for $126 million.
The company forecasts a profit of $20 million to $22 million. Wall Street expects about $25 million.
Chief Executive Jim McCluney said two of Emulex’s big customers slowed their orders for embedded storage products.
The company said it is set to “burn off inventory” in the September quarter.
Business is expected to pick up in the December quarter, McCluney said.
“We see the rebound coming back and we do feel confident in that. We’ll get through this little bit of softness here in September,” he said.
The company’s stock fell on the news, overshadowing better-than-expected sales for the quarter ended July 1. Shares fell 4% at the close of trading Thursday and dropped an additional 7% afterhours.
Emulex reported sales of about $126 million for the quarter ended July 1, up 28% from a year earlier and beating analysts’ estimates of $124 million.
The company’s revenue got a boost from design wins with Sun Microsystems Inc. and IBM Corp.
Emulex swung to a profit of about $13 million in the quarter, up from a loss of nearly $5 million a year ago. Analysts were looking for a profit of about $24 million.
