Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.
What: Shares of Cirrus Logic (CRUS 2.42%) fell more than 10% during intraday trading Wednesday after the chipmaker turned in solid quarterly results, but issued disappointing forward guidance.
So what: Fiscal third-quarter 2014 sales came in at $218.9 million, which translated to adjusted earnings of $0.89 per share. By contrast, analysts were expecting earnings of just $0.77 per share on sales of $213.3 million.
However, Cirrus also stated that fiscal fourth-quarter revenue should be between $130 million and $150 million, compared to estimates that called for sales of $175.3 million.
Now what: The weakness comes as little surprise when we remember Apple -- which represented more than 80% of Cirrus' sales in fiscal 2013 -- already provided lighter-than-expected forward revenue guidance earlier this week.
Cirrus Management obviously hopes to diversify its business going forward, thanks to the rollout of a number of new products geared toward taking advantage of what CEO Jason Rhode describes as "the growing trend of voice as a powerful interface to a wide variety of devices." However, Rhode also admitted those products aren't expected to contribute to revenue growth until sometime in calendar year 2015.
And while I still wouldn't go rushing into the stock today, it's worth noting shares aren't exactly priced for perfection at 7.8 times last year's earnings and 9.7 times next year's estimates. At the very least, I think investors would be wise to add Cirrus Logic to their watch lists to keep an eye peeled for its hopeful return to growth down the road.
