Reeling from a streak of bad news, Cabeltron announces results for its fiscal 1998 third quarter that only slightly beat greatly reduced estimates.
Cabletron stunned Wall Street earlier this month by pre-announcing earnings expectations for the quarter. The company also recently announced a round of layoffs and plant closings, a move that reportedly stung some employees during the holiday season.
The company announced earnings of 13 cents per share, beating a reduced consensus of analysts' estimate, compiled by First Call, which pegged earnings of 11 cents per share. Earnings per share for the same period during the previous year came in at 44 cents per share.
Revenue for the quarter came in just below $332 million, a drop from the $361 million the company reported for its 1997 fiscal third quarter.
Analysts have said the company needed to initiate some austerity measures and refocus in order to grow in the future. Though the networking segment of the computing industry remains lucrative, some firms are battling internal inventory issues and external economic woes in places like Asia. Both factors have lead to poor showings in recent months, particularly from the likes of 3Com and Ascend Communications.
Separately, the company announced last week that it has hired John d'Auguste as vice president of worldwide operations. The executive was formerly in charge of manufacturing operations at PC giant Gateway 2000, a firm that specializes in direct sales.