Acme Packet Warning: Wile E. Coyote Loses Again (APKT, CSCO, RVBD, JNPR)

Acme Packet Inc. (NASDAQ: APKT) is trading as though Wile E. Coyote is running the company and trying to sell to the Roadrunner.  The company issued an earnings warning after the closing bell which lowered its full year outlook due to uncertainty among North American communications service providers.  Telecommunications customers were giving weak orders during the quarter for its networking equipment for voice, video and data.

While Acme competes against Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO), shares of Riverbed Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: RVBD) and Juniper Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: JNPR) are the stocks suffering after posting gains in the first day of 2012.

Acme cut its targets to $1.03 to $1.05 EPS for the year on sales of $308 million to $310 million.  When it gave guidance in October, those ranges were $1.14 to $1.18 EPS on sales of $315 million to $320 million.

The stock was initially halted after a 2.9% gain to $31.81 today, but shares are down 17.5% in the after-hours session down around $26.25.  Sadly, this is going to make for a 52-week low as the range over the last year was $29.25 to $84.50.

JON C. OGG