MURRAY HILL, N.J. – Lucent Technologies said Thursday it expects a bigger loss than Wall Street has been expecting for its first fiscal quarter and said revenue will be down sharply from a year ago.
Shares of the telecommunications equipment maker plunged 14 percent, or $1.10 a share, to $6.63 in early trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
Lucent said it expects to lose 23 cents to 26 cents per share from continuing operations in the three months ending Dec. 31. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial/First Call had predicted a loss of 17 cents per share.
In the year-ago quarter, Lucent had a pro forma net loss of $1.02 billion, or 30 cents per share. Revenues for that quarter were $5.84 billion.
Lucent blamed the change in outlook on an industrywide reduction in spending on network infrastructure and related services. But the telecommunications giant also said it expects first-quarter revenues will represent the low point for Lucent sales in the market downturn.
Lucent CEO Henry Schacht affirmed the company's plan to use the revenues from the quarter ending March 31, 2002, to meet financial obligations for the spinoff of Agere Systems.
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox