Sierra Wireless shares tumble on weak forecast

NEW YORK - Shares of Sierra Wireless Inc. tumbled Thursday after the Canadian wireless modem maker issued a disappointing third-quarter outlook, saying it expects sales of embedded products to PC makers to erode. Sierra Wireless on Wednesday forecast adjusted earnings of 32 cents per share, and sales of $140 million for the current quarter. Analysts, on average, are expecting higher earnings of 37 cents per share on sales of $157.2 million, according to a poll by Thomson Financial. Avondale Partners analyst John Bright downgraded Sierra to "Market Perform" from "Market Outperform." He called the second quarter's results "solid," but said the guidance is "distinctly negative," as new entrants into the PC embedded module market, Qualcomm Inc. and Sweden's LM Ericsson, are increasing competition. "After several quarters of... [read full story]