American Magnetics Lists 1st-Quarter Earnings Dip

American Magnetics reported 7% lower earnings on 51% lower sales for its first quarter ended March 29.

Earnings were $356,000, or 7 cents a share, versus $384,000, or 8 cents a share, for the quarter ended March 31, 1985. Sales were $2.1 million versus $4.3 million.

The Sherman Oaks-based company managed a profit despite sharply lower sales, thanks to an extraordinary gain of $607,000 from the sale of securities. A company spokesman said sales were off because of the slump in the computer peripherals business.

American Magnetics is a leading maker of devices called readers, which read and write on magnetically encoded cards such as credit cards. Its customers include IBM and ATT.