PairGain Shares Fall

PairGain Technologies Inc. shares fell Tuesday after the Tustin company posted second-quarter earnings that failed to meet analysts’ forecasts.

The stock fell 8.2%, or $1.38 a share, to $15.38 in heavy trading. A total of 9.14 million shares changed hands, making PairGain the 15th most active stock in U.S. markets.

PairGain said late Monday that net income rose slightly to $11.8 million from $11.7 million a year earlier. Per-share earnings were 16 cents in both periods. Analysts expected PairGain to earn 17 cents in the latest quarter, according to a survey by IBES International Inc. Revenue rose 11% to $73.4 million from $66.4 million.

The company said operating expenses increased because of additional engineering and field sales as well as the introduction of some product lines.

PairGain said it could land big contracts soon from phone-service giants Bell Atlantic Corp. and SBC Communications Inc., but profit margins will be narrow, said Joseph Noel, an analyst at Hambrecht & Quist. PairGain is competing with rival Adtran Inc. for the contracts.