Apple Stock Price Sinks as Loss Seen

Apple Computer’s stock fell sharply Friday after it said it expects lower profit in its second fiscal quarter due to excess inventories of memory chips.

Wall Street was caught off guard, and investors unloaded Apple’s stock, which closed down $4.125, or almost 10%, at $37.625 a share. That was off more than 20% from its 52-week high of $47.75.

Less than two weeks ago, Apple said its fiscal 1989 earnings would be in the range of $3.60 to $3.75 a share--down from the $4 many analysts had expected. But Friday it said a weak second quarter could mean earnings for the year as low as $3.30 a share.