Downgrade pulls P-Com lower

P-Com shares tumbled another 3/4, or 11 percent, to 6 Monday after UBS Warburg downgraded the provider of wireless access systems from a "buy" recommendation to a "hold" following its disappointing second-quarter earnings report.

P-Com (Nasdaq: PCOM) shares have collapsed in the past two months after it missed analysts' estimates in each of its past two quarters.

On Thursday, it checked in with a loss of $5.8 million, or 7 cents a share, on sales of $48.8 million.

First Call Corp. consensus expected it to lose 6 cents a share in the quarter.

In its first quarter, P-Com posted a loss of $13.8 million, or 18 cents a share, on sales of $51.1 million.

After the first-quarter earnings miss, P-Com said demand for its Point-to-Multipoint product, which is quickly ramping into volume production, was strong. However, materials procurement costs and other start-up costs were a constraining factor during the quarter, and additionally impacted gross margins.

First Call Corp. consensus expects it to lose 3 cents a share in its third quarter and 19 cents a share in the fiscal year.

Its shares moved up to a 52-week high of 28 1/2 in March before tumbling to a low of 3 11/16 earlier this month.

Five of the nine analysts following the stock rate it a "hold."