Quantum Shares Plunged: What You Need to Know

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: Quantum Corp. (NYS: QTM) dropped 18% in intraday trading today after reporting disappointing earnings.

So what: Non-GAAP EPS of $0.01 fell 75% year over year and missed the $0.03 consensus estimate. GAAP EPS of -$0.02 deteriorated from -$0.01 in the year-earlier quarter. Revenue of $102 million fell 6% year over year.

Now what: The CEO cited a tough comparable and weakness in disk system and software sales for the meager revenue, and noted he expects new products and a focus on sales and marketing to get the company "back on track." For the current quarter, management expects revenue of $160 million (down 5% year over year), a slight, sequential decline in non-GAAP gross margin, and a slight, sequential increase in GAAP operating expenses. Sterne Agee downgraded the stock to neutral from buy.

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At the time thisarticle was published Fool contributor Cindy Johnson does not own shares of any company named above. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe thatconsidering a diverse range of insightsmakes us better investors. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy.

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