Polycom shares fall after outlook disappoints

Shares of Polycom Inc. retreated along with the broader market Thursday after the communications and videoconference equipment maker gave a first-quarter sales outlook below expectations.

For the fourth quarter, the company earned $25.7 million, or 30 cents per share, up 13 percent from $22.8 million, or 25 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier.

Excluding items, the company earned 42 cents per share.

Revenue was nearly flat at $263 million.

Analysts, on average, expected a profit of 40 cents per share, excluding items, on sales of $264.2 million, according to a poll by Thomson Reuters.

Polycom forecast a sequential sales decline of 9 percent to 13 percent for the first quarter. Analysts are expecting $247.2 million, which represents a 6 percent decline.

Stifel Nicolaus analyst Sanjiv Wadhwani kept a "Hold" rating on the company but lowered his 2009 estimates.

Shares of the Pleasanton, Calif.-based company fell 55 cents, or 3.9 percent, to $13.69 in afternoon trading amid a broader market decline. In the past 52 weeks, the stock has traded between $12.19 and $28.94.