Irvine’s Netlist Inc., a maker of computer memory products, said Monday it expects to swing to a loss in the second quarter on weak demand from customers and falling memory chip prices.
Shares plunged about 23% in afterhours trading. Netlist had a recent market value of about $70 million.
Netlist expects sales of $12.5 million to $13 million. Analysts were looking for about $35 million in sales.
Including a $300,000 charge related to stock compensation, the company is expecting to post a loss of $6.9 million to $7.2 million.
That includes a one-time charge of $5 million related to falling prices of dynamic random access memory,memory parts known as DRAM.
The company previously said profits would be about $392,800 on sales of $34 million to $36 million.
DRAM prices dropped about 30% during the first half of the year, slashing the value of Netlist’s stockpiles.
The company also saw delays in getting certain products to markets and lower shipments overall, Chief Executive Chuck Hong said.
Netlist has cut expenses and jobs to help ease its losses, Hong said. It plans to ramp up production at a new plant in China later this year.
The company is set to report second-quarter results in August.
