UPDATE 2-Palm first-quarter net loss widens
(Adds outlook, other details, stock move, byline)
By David Lawsky
SAN FRANCISCO, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Palm Inc (PALM.O), the maker of smart phones, said on Thursday its earnings for the second quarter ending in November will decline, and its shares fell as much as 7 percent in after-hours trading.
The Sunnyvale, California-based company once known for handheld organizers but now focused on selling so-called smart phones provided no specific figures for the forecast. Analysts said the projection weighed down its stock.
"We're not going to get into specific numbers ... we have decided to not give specific numerical guidance," said Ed Colligan, Palm's chief executive and president, during a conference call with analysts.
Revenue rose 1.6 percent to $366.9 million.
One of the analysts said that he and others had been looking for increased growth, fueled by demand for Palm's new, entry level Centro phone, which sells for less than $100.
Palm said it had yet to see any impact from wider economic turmoil but expects no bump in sales for the year-end holiday season, as the company has evolved from a retail-based seller of handhelds to a distribution model that depends on carriers to sell its phones.
The company's net loss applicable to common shareholders for the fiscal first quarter ended in August grew to $41.9 million, or 39 cents per diluted share, from $841,000, or 1 cent per diluted share, in the year ago period.
The latest quarter's loss included a charge of $15 million for the impairment of noncurrent auction rate securities. It also includes other one-time items such as stock-based compensation and acquisition-related charges.
Excluding one-time items, the company reported a loss of $12.8 million, or 12 cents per diluted share, compared with a year-earlier profit of $9.7 million, or 9 cents per diluted share.
On that basis, Wall Street was looking for an adjusted loss, on average, of 18 cents per share, according to Reuters Estimates. Analysts were looking for a net loss, on average, of 23 cents per share.
Ahead of the report, shares of Palm rose $1.28, or 17.75 percent, in regular session trading on Nasdaq. Following the results, Palm shares fell 7.2 percent to $7.88 in extended trading. (Reporting by David Lawsky and Eric Auchard in San Francisco; editing by Carol Bishopric, Andre Grenon and Gunna Dickson)
