Finisar Corporation (FNSR)

[Dinero709]

Finisar 1Q Profit Surges; Plans 1-for-8 Reverse Stock Split
Thursday 09/10/2009 4:51 PM ET - Dow Jones News

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

Finisar Corp. (FNSR) fiscal first-quarter profit soared due to a $36 million gain from an asset sale, but the company posted lower margins and revenue came in below expectations.
Finisar separately said its board approved a 1-for-8 reverse split of its common stock, which will take effect after the market closes on Sept. 25, as it looks to boost investor appeal.
The company's shares traded over a $1 Thursday for the first time since October and have more than doubled in value this year. Still, the stock, which fell 7.8% to 94 cents in after-hours trading, is significantly under the all-time high of over $50 in 2000.
The company has been shuffling its business recently - acquiring Optium Corp. last year but selling off its network tools division to JDS Uniphase Corp. (JDSU) in July. Finisar and other broadband product producers have been hurt as telecom operators slow spending on information technology.
For the quarter ended Aug. 2, the second-largest fiber-optic equipment maker after JDS reported earnings of $26 million, or 5 cents a share, up from $2.8 million, or less than a penny a share.
The latest results included a gain from the sale of its network tools division. Excluding that and other items, earnings from continuing operations were break-even, compared with a year-ago profit of a 3 cents a share. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected break-even results.
Revenue jumped 11% to $128.7 million, below the company's improved estimate last month of about $134 million.
Gross margin, which has declined in recent quarters, slumped to 22.8% from 35.2%.
Excluding revenue from the Optium merger, optical-product revenue fell 14% from a year earlier.