Sapient misses lowered estimates
The technology consultant falls short of revised estimates in its first quarter as sales fall 22 percent from the prior quarter.
First Call consensus pegged the technology consultant to lose 4 cents a share on sales of $125.2 million.
Sapient shares closed off 88 cents to $12.12 ahead of the earnings report before falling to $11.79 in after-hours trading.
The $109.1 million in sales marks a 9 percent improvement from the year-ago quarter when it earned $12.7 million, or 10 cents a share, on sales of $100.3 million.
"While we are satisfied that our results were in line with previous guidance, it is clearly a challenging market, and our financial performance reflects that," said Chief Executive Officer Edward Goldfinger in a release. "The combination of our strong balance sheet and the restructuring actions we took will allow us to continue to invest in our core strategic initiatives."
Earlier in the quarter, Sapient warned that it would fall short of analysts' sales and earnings estimates in the quarter. It also announced it would lay off 720 employees, roughly 20 percent of its work force. Those layoffs resulted in a one-time restructuring charge of $47.3 million this quarter.
Last quarter, it posted a profit of 10 cents a share on sales of $139.1 million.
Fifteen of the 26 analysts tracking the stock rate it a "hold."