Three Huge Tech Losers For Traders (EXTR, RVBD, SNDK)

Technology companies are reporting earnings by the dozens now as earnings season is in full swing.  24/7 Wall St. has identified three dismal earnings reports in the technology sector that traders will be focusing on this Friday.  We are tracking big losses in shares of Extreme Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: EXTR), Riverbed Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: RVBD), and SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK).

Extreme Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: EXTR) was lower with a double-digit percentage loss after offering a preliminary guidance.  The company’s quarterly net revenue is expected to be $73.0 to $73.5 million versus a prior guidance $80 to 85 million.  This is also under a year ago.  Earnings will be about $0.04 per share, which up from a loss a year ago but it is under the $0.06 to $0.08 per share it previously offered.  Wall Street analysts were expecting sales of more than $82 million with earnings of $0.07 EPS.  Full 2012 sales are now in a range of $317 to $325 million with earnings of $0.22 to $0.26 per share versus a Thomson Reuters set of estimates of $0.27 EPS and $330.3 million in sales.

Extreme Networks went out in the after-hours session with a loss of more than 18% to $3.54 on almost 500,000 shares in the after-hours session alone.

Riverbed Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: RVBD) was hit hard last night with a double-digit percentage loss on its earnings report.  The company’s report was $0.20 EPS on $183 million in sales; Thomson Reuters was at -$0.20 but the revenues were supposed to be about $186 million.  The company sees second quarter adjusted earnings $0.21 to $0.22 per share and $193 to $197 million in sales, while Thomson Reuters has estimates of $0.24 EPS on just over $202 million in sales.  For all of 2012, the company’s new revenue growth is put at about 15% instead of 17% to 20% previously offered.

Riverbed shares went out Thursday night at $23.00 for a 17.4% loss and almost 2.2 million shares traded in the after-hours session.  Shares are indicated around $22.70 in the pre-market session with more than two hours until the open.

SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK) had already guided its sales and margins down on lower demand for its flash memory, but what was expected to be a weak report became even weaker after its new guidance targets.  Earnings came in $0.63 EPS versus a $0.70 consensus target and sales were $1.21 billion versus $1.23 billion expected.  Now the company put the coming quarter guidance at $1 billion with a $50 million buffer on either side while the consensus target was still all the way up at $1.3 billion.  Sales are now expected to be negative in all of 2012 versus the 2011 year for a comparison.  So much for a GARP and Value story.

SanDisk went out with a 13.7% drop to $34.90 in the after-hours session with more than 1.66 million shares recorded in the NASDAQ after-hours session.  Be advised that the 52-week low in SanDisk is down at $32.24.  Shares are indicated around $34.40 with more than two hours until the market opens.

JON C. OGG