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 Maxim Integrated Products (MXIM) dropped 11% on the opening bell Friday, but had recovered to a roughly 7% loss by 1 p.m., following yesterday's post-closing release of the company's fiscal-third-quarter earnings.
So what: Maxim reported $577 million in revenue and $0.40 in adjusted EPS for its fiscal third quarter. These results represented year-over-year declines of 5% and 7%, respectively. Wall Street analysts had expected $585.2 million in revenue and $0.35 in adjusted EPS, so the report was somewhat of a mixed bag. However, it's Maxim's forward guidance that's causing some consternation among investors today, as it now expects to generate between $570 million and $610 million in revenue for Q4, resulting in EPS ranging from $0.35 to $0.41. Both ranges are weaker than Wall Street's expectations on the high end. Analysts had expected $618.5 million in revenue and $0.44 for the fourth quarter.
Now what: Maxim is now expected to earn $1.48 per share on revenue of $2.35 billion for its 2015 fiscal year, which would be weaker than 2014's results by 9% on the bottom line and 4% on the top line. Both Maxim's top and bottom lines have been in slow decline since the end of its 2013 fiscal year, and the company's underwhelming guidance offers no indication that this slide will be reversed any time soon.
Companies with no forward momentum have been nonetheless buoyed in recent years by the widespread hope that business will eventually improve, but this hope has been eroding for many stocks in 2015. Maxim is just the latest casualty, and now that its shares have dropped from post-recession highs, it seems likely that the correction will continue without any financial forward momentum to arrest it. I'd hold off until the picture of Maxim's future clears up a bit more.
