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JDA Software says 4Q sales, earnings will disappoint

JDA Software started 2001 with some bad news for its investors Tuesday, warning that its fourth-quarter sales and earnings will fall well short of analysts’ estimates.

The operations management software developer said delays of certain software licenses to future quarters will result in sales of only $43 million with licensing sales accounting for $14 million.

JDA Software (Nasdaq: JDAS) expects to post a profit of between 7 cents to 9 cents a share in the quarter, well below the current First Call Corp. consensus estimate of 16 cents a share.

The stock closed off 50 cents to $12.56 ahead of the warning.

Last quarter, it posted a profit of $1.9 million, or 8 cents a share, excluding charges, on sales of $43.5 million.

Its shares moved as high as $25 in February before slipping to a 52-week low of $9.75 in December.

The lone analyst following the stock rates it a “buy.”