JDS Falls on Talk of Purchase Plan

Shares of JDS Uniphase Corp. fell in after-hours trading Monday after the company said it would announce key developments early today, which analysts speculated would involve the purchase of Lucent Technologies Inc.’s fiber-optic cable unit.

Lucent, which is struggling with losses and heavy debt, said in March it was considering the sale of its Atlanta-based fiber-optic cable unit, which analysts said could be worth as much as $4 billion to $8 billion.

Investors speculated that Ottawa-based JDS will discuss an acquisition when it holds a conference call this morning, rather than anything concerning third-quarter earnings, which are expected after the markets close Thursday.

Bids for the Lucent unit were due this week, a source said. Alcatel, Pirelli, Corning Inc. and Furukawa Electric Co., as well as JDS, are potential bidders, the source said.

Shares of JDS fell 6.5% or $1.58 to $22.60 in after-hours trading on the Instinet trading network, following a drop of $4.35, or 15%, to close at $24.18 on Nasdaq.

Meanwhile, analysts said that JDS probably will cut its annual spending budget sharply to $550 million from $750 million. The aggressive spending program was intended to boost manufacturing capacity by four times every 18 months.