Shares of Irvine-based industrial printer maker Printronix Inc. fell Wednesday on news that the company expects lower earnings for the quarter ended March 30.
The company blamed slow sales from a big customer. It declined to name the customer.
The company said it expects sales to come in close to $32 million, the low end of its expected range. Wall Street was looking for $33.5 million in sales.
Printronix said it won’t turn a profit this quarter, but “will be close to breakeven.”
It previously expected a profit $661,000 to $1.3 million. Analysts expected $925,000 in profit.
The company said earnings took a hit from higher costs, one-time charges and lower margins,but didn’t elaborate.
The stock fell about 6% on Wednesday. The company had a recent market value of about $88 million.
Printronix makes printers for producing radio frequency identification tags, which are high-tech barcodes used to track shipments.
Its biggest industrial printer customers are automakers.
The company also sells printer supplies such as ribbons, toner, and labels and does printer repair and maintenance.
