FileNet Stock Drops 21%

Shares of FileNet Corp. tumbled 21% Tuesday after the company said it will report a $12-million loss in the first quarter, partly because of disappointing sales at a recently acquired unit.

The Costa Mesa-based company’s stock fell $12.125 to close at $45.75 per share in heavy Nasdaq trading. FileNet makes document imaging systems that use digital scanners to store documents on laser disks.

The steep drop came one day after FileNet said it will post a loss because of restructuring acquisition-related charges. Weak sales at Saros Corp., a Bellevue, Wash.-based software company FileNet purchased for $100 million on March 1, reduced earnings by about 20 cents per share, or $3 million, company officials said.

“A lot of people are looking at this as a bad judgment call and are wondering what else could go wrong,” said Eric Upin, an analyst at Robertson Stephens in San Francisco.

Analysts had been expecting a quarterly profit of 36 cents per share, or about $5.4 million. Despite the loss, the company expects first-quarter revenue of $68 million, up 40% from the comparable quarter a year earlier.