Emulex’s Stock Dives on Lower Forecast

Shares of data storage equipment maker Emulex Corp. lost more than a third of their value Friday and pulled down the storage sector after the company said it expected weaker full-year sales than Wall Street had expected.

After an early trading delay, Emulex shares plunged, closing down $8.34at $15.27 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Merrill Lynch storage analyst John Roy said he did not think the company’s guidance was terrible news, but he noted, “People are looking for bad news.”

Brokerage Credit Suisse First Boston cut its 12-month price target for the stock Friday to $20 from $30.

The Costa Mesa-based company said on a Webcast after the market closed Thursday that it expected fiscal 2003 sales, ending in June, to range from $305 million to $325 million.

The news dragged down shares of data storage rival Brocade Communications Systems Inc. by $1.92 to $15.36, and shares of QLogic Corp. fell $3.42 to $35.90. Both companies trade on Nasdaq.