SMART Modular Technologies lowers 4Q outlook

SMART Modular Technologies Inc. trimmed its financial guidance for its fiscal 2008 fourth quarter, projecting sales of $158 million to $164 million and gross profit of $24 million to $26 million for the period.

The Fremont, Calif., company also said it expects to incur restructuring and accounting charges in the fourth quarter, which ended on Aug. 29, but did not offer new earnings or loss projections for the period.

SMART Modular Technologies, which makes memory products and other embedded computing products as well as controller boards and display systems, had previously projected sales of $160 million to $170 million, gross profit of $27 million to $29 million and earnings of 6 cents to 7 cents per share for the quarter.

SMART Modular Technologies blamed the lower financial estimates on persistent oversupply and aggressive pricing pressure in the market for dynamic random access memory, or DRAM, memory components as well as the weak economic climate in the U.S.

For the full fiscal 2008 year, SMART Modular Technologies projects net sales of $668 million to $674 million and gross profit of $118 million and $120 million.

The company's shares were down 7 cents, or 2.5 percent, at $2.74 Tuesday.