Ingram Micro Stock Price Dips 8.3%

Ingram Micro Inc.’s stock fell Thursday, apparently amid investor concern that the personal-computer distributor’s profits will be hurt by price cutting in Europe.

Shares of Santa Ana-based Ingram Micro, the world’s biggest personal computer distributor, dropped $4.13, or 8.3%, to $45.75. Shares of another distributor, Tech Data Corp., fell $4.75, or 11%, to $40.06.

Ingram Micro told analysts that pressure to cut prices on PC products was increasing in Europe. Both companies have expanded operations in Europe this year, buying stakes in German competitors.

Ingram Micro reported Wednesday that its third-quarter profit rose by a third, and that per-share earnings beat analysts’ estimates by a penny. Tech Data, based in Clearwater, Fla., will report its third-quarter earnings in December.

In June, Ingram Micro agreed to buy Tech Data’s majority interest in distributor Macrotron AG for $100 million in cash. That same month, European Union regulators cleared Tech Data’s $405 million purchase of a majority interest in German distributor Computer 2000 AG.

In an unrelated development, Ingram said Thursday that it has purchased the 30% minority interest in its Mexico subsidiary, Ingram Dicom S.A. de C.V., owned by founders Jose Luis Rodriguez and Manuel Saenz. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Rodriguez, who has served as president of Ingram Dicom since its inception, retired. Saenz will remain as general director.