Earnings news dulls Copper Mountain shares

A sour earnings forecast from Copper Mountain led investors to shave down the company's shares more than 50 percent in post-market activity.

The maker of Internet access equipment said in a statement released after the markets closed that it had pro forma net income of $15.8 million, or 27 cents a diluted share, in the third quarter, compared with $5.3 million, or 9 cents a share, last year. The company posted revenue of $93.5 million for the quarter vs. $32 million a year ago.

Copper Mountain edged past Wall Street expectations of 26 cents a share, the consensus estimate of eight analysts surveyed by First Call/Thomson Financial.

However, the Palo Alto, Calif.-based company warned investors that because of recent reductions in capital expenditure forecasts from many of its telecom customers, it expects fourth-quarter revenue near $60 million and pro forma, fully taxed earnings per share between 4 cents and 6 cents a share.

Copper Mountain said it also expects the current trend to affect financial results for next year.

In after-market trading, Copper Mountain fell $13.75 to $13.13 on volume of 2.3 million shares. In regular trading hours, the company fell $3.75 to $26.88.