Solectron sees weaker sales, earnings in 3Q

Solectron picked a good day to sneak in its bad news Friday, warning that its third-quarter sales and earnings will be slightly lower than analysts had expected.

Solectron (NYSE: SLR) shares closed up 7/8 to 46 13/16 ahead of the announcement.

Company officials now say it expects total sales of between $3.4 billion to $3.5 billion and earnings of between 20 cents to 22 cents a share.

A survey of analysts by First Call Corp. predicted Solectron would earn 22 cents a share in the quarter.

"Market demand continues to be strong from almost every market segment served by the company," said CFO Susan Wang in a prepared release. "However, third quarter sales have been impacted by the delay of the closing of the transaction with Nortel Networks. Further, third quarter results may be impacted by supply disruptions resulting from certain component shortages and changes in product configuration requirements by certain OEM customers."

Wang said despite the bump in the road in the third quarter, it expects to meet the consensus estimate of 85 cents a share in the fiscal year.

Twenty-two of the 23 analysts following the stock maintain either a "buy" or "strong buy" recommendation.