Teradyne slides on analyst comments, outlook

Chip-equipment maker Teradyne plunged $7.84, or 16 percent, to $41.38 Thursday after Prudential Securities cut its 12-month price target, citing sluggish third-quarter orders.

Analyst Shekhar Pramanick cut his price target from $94 a share to $65 a share, saying the company's guidance for the third-quarter "is significantly at risk."

Teradyne (NYSE: TER) was expecting total orders of between $850 million to $900 million in the quarter.

"We now believe that orders for the September quarter could come below the orders of $824 million seen during the June quarter,'' Pramanick said in a report.

He added orders were unusually strong at the end of the third quarter and that it was likely to come through with forecast revenues of $845 million and profits of 84 cents a share.

Last quarter, Teradyne posted a profit of $137.6 million, or 76 cents a share, on sales of $759 million.

First Call Corp. consensus expects it to earn 84 cents a share in the quarter.

Its shares moved up to a 52-week high of $115.43 in May after falling to a low of $26.94 in October.

All 20 analysts following the stock rate it either a "buy" or "strong buy."