Sun shares fall sharply, as fourth quarter results come in


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Sun Microsystems posted a fourth quarter decline in revenues and earnings Friday, amid what it described as slowing U.S. growth.

Sun fell more than 12 percent to $9.34 a share in early morning trading, despite the company’s announcement it would also expand its stock buyback program by $1 billion and beating Wall Street’s earnings expectations.

During the fiscal quarter that ended June 30, Sun generated revenues of $3.78 billion, down 1.4 percent from a year ago. Sun’s quarter met Wall Street’s revised expectations, according to a survey of analysts estimates by Thomson Financial.

Net income fell to $88 million, or 11 cents a share, in the quarter, down substantially from $329 million, or 36 cents a share in the same period last year.

Excluding charges, Sun posted net income of $275 million, or 35 cents a share, for the quarter recently completed. Wall Street had expected Sun to earn 25 cents a share, according to Thomson Financial.

During the full year, Sun’s revenues increased to $13.88 billion, up a slight 0.1 percent, while its net income after charges improved to $1.1 billion from approximately $1 billion in the prior year.

“Despite this progress and strong growth in international geographies, slowing performance in the U.S. impacted top line revenue growth. Looking forward, we remain confident in open source innovation as the accelerant to our growth strategy through increased adoption of our open source offerings,” Jonathan Schwartz, Sun CEO, said in a statement.

With its shares trading near its 52-week low, Sun announced it would expand its stock buyback program by $1 billion, as it nears the end of its $3 billion share repurchase program it announced last year.

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[Via CNET - News.com]

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