Novatel Wireless Misses Q1 Forecast

Novatel Wireless, which supplies wireless broadband access cards, reported preliminary Q1 financial results saying it now expects revenue to be approximately $91 million, lower than the company's prior guidance of $110 million. GAAP earnings per share are expected to be in the range of $0.13 to $0.15 and non-GAAP EPS is expected to be between $0.16 and $0.18 per share.


Novatel Wireless also announced the appointment of Peter V. Leparulo, the company's current chairman of the board, as chief executive officer, effective immediately. Mr. Leparulo previously served as the company's CEO from January 2003 to November 2006.


"We are very disappointed with our first quarter results," said Peter Leparulo. "Approximately $10 million of the shortfall was attributable to a delayed launch of the MC930D with a major European carrier customer. Additionally, we had lower than expected sales of our enterprise-class MC727 USB products to one major customer. We are between product launch cycles for our USB devices and demand in the current environment has shifted toward lower end products. We continue to see solid demand for our first generation MCD3000 USB products selling into this market shift, and we expect our second generation USB products to become the low end promotional offering as we introduce our third generation products mid-year."http://www.novatelwireless.com