“Synaptics Inc. highlighted a generally down day in the tech sector, as the maker to computer touchpad technology shares slumped as much as 26% after it gave a weak first-quarter revenue forecast,” Rex Crum reports for MarketWatch. “Synaptics (SYNA) fell $4.83, to $16.19, after company officials said Thursday that they expect first-quarter sales to fall 9% to 10% from the $56.8 million Synaptics posted for its fourth quarter. Analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call had forecast Synaptics to earn 27 cents a share on $55 million in first-quarter revenue. The company said the outlook was hindered by ‘lower visibility in the hard disk drive MP3 player market’ that would outweigh seasonal gains in notebook computers.”
Companies involved in the MP3 player market took the hit. Apple was down by 61 cents at $43.20, Portalplayer dropped 54 cents to $23.56, and Seagate Technology lost 6 cents to $19.29.
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Note: In April, after Synaptics guided lower for the June quarter, Piper Jaffray Senior Analyst Gene Munster said, “Given that more than 85% of PortalPlayer revenue is from iPod, while approximately 35% of Synaptics’ revenue is from iPod, we believe PortalPlayer is a more relevant benchmark for potential changes in iPod unit shipments [than Synaptics].”