Shares of Tellabs were down more than 14 percent in afternoon trading Tuesday after the communications equipment maker reported a strong gain in third-quarter profit but its fourth-quarter projections worried investors.
Naperville-based Tellabs said it earned $57 million, or 15 cents a share, in the third quarter, compared with $29 million, or 7 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Revenues during the quarter rose 10 percent to $429 million.
Still, the company’s shares were trading at less than $7 more than halfway through the trading day, helping lead the technology sector’s decline. Executives said fourth-quarter revenue would be in the range of $410 million to $430 million, compared with $389 million in 2009’s fourth quarter. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had been expecting fourth-quarter revenue to be, on average, $442 million.
Shares of Tellabs closed at $8.06 Monday.
