Agilent Widens Its Loss Forecast

Agilent Technologies Inc., a Palo Alto firm whose testing equipment is used by clients as diverse as chip maker Intel Corp. and drug giant Merck & Co., said Wednesday that its fiscal first-quarter loss was wider than it had forecast because customers postponed purchases.

Revenue in the quarter ended Jan. 31 was $1.35 billion to $1.45 billion, down from $1.5 billion to $1.6 billion previously forecast, the company said. The loss, excluding some costs, was 22 to 28 cents a share. Agilent had forecast a loss of 5 to 15 cents.

The company will report full results Feb. 21.

Last year in the first quarter, Agilent had a loss of 29 cents a share on revenue of $1.43 billion before one-time items.

Many customers are reluctant to buy new equipment because of “economic weakness or geopolitical uncertainties,” Chief Executive Ned Barnholt said. “The result has been a continuation of the pattern of weak orders that we’ve experienced for the past year and a half.”

Last week, Barnholt predicted that Agilent and rivals may have another year of weak demand as extra chip capacity makes it hard to boost prices.

Agilent, which was spun off from Palo Alto-based computer maker Hewlett-Packard Co. in 1999, was expected to lose 12 cents a share on sales of $1.53 billion, the average estimates of analysts polled by Thomson First Call.

Agilent did not give an estimate for its net loss.

The company said that in the first quarter last year it had a net loss of $315 million, or 68 cents a share.

Agilent shares rose 2 cents to $16.32 on Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange. The stock has dropped 40% in the last year.