Shares of Aliso Viejo-based Quest Software Inc., a maker of business software, held relatively flat Tuesday after the company reported second-quarter results that fell short of Wall Street’s expectations.
The stock was down about 10% before recovering at close of trading on a recent market value of about $1.5 billion.
Quest reported sales of $173 million, up 22% from the same period a year earlier and in line with analysts’ expectations.
Including charges for stock compensation, research and development, write-downs on assets and costs associated with Quest’s stock options backdating probe, the company posted profits of $8 million, flat from the year-ago quarter.
Without the charges, Quest saw $18 million in profits, short of the $22 million analysts were looking for.
Quest reaffirmed its revenue outlook for the year. The company expects sales of $705 million to $720 million.
It ended the quarter with about $420 million in cash.
Chief Executive Vinny Smith said the company is weathering “what has been a tough macroeconomic environment in the first half of 2008,” he said in a statement.
Quest’s shares are off about 19% since the start of the year.
The company makes software that improves on or helps manage other business programs from Oracle Corp., Microsoft Corp. and others.
