JDS Uniphase (Nasdaq: JDSU) fell 75 U.S. cents to $37.75 in morning trading Wednesday, after lowering sales and earnings estimates for the third quarter ending March 31st.
Analysts at Adams Harkness and JD Cowen reportedly lowered their ratings on JDS Uniphase shares following the news.
The company, a maker of fiber-optic components, said sales for the quarter will be "at or slightly above $1 billion," with earnings before extraordinary items of 17 cents per share. Reports said analysts had expected the company to earn 21 cents per share in the quarter.
For the year as a whole, JDS Uniphase projected sales of $3.9 billion and earnings of 74 cents per share.
"This guidance reflects continued uncertainty in carrier capital spending prospects and customer inventory adjustments, as well as a lower level of near-term sales visibility than the company has experienced in recent periods," JDS Uniphase said.
JDS shares traded as high as $153 within the past year. The shares, however, have fallen in recent days, hit by a general slump in the technology sector and by news that big customers like Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) are seeing a decline in business.
JDS Uniphase also said it has completed its acquisition of SDL and the
sale of its Zurich subsidiary to Nortel (NYSE: NT)
Networks.
"We are delighted to have the strong team from SDL join JDS Uniphase," said JDS
co-chairman and chief executive officer Jozef Straus, "and
now with the merger complete, our challenge now is threefold: To collaborate,
integrate and innovate, all with the highest degree of agility."

Headline Feeds
