Fusion-io slashes 2013 forecast as Apple and Facebook order cuts bite

Fusion-io has slashed its fiscal 2013 revenue forecast as key customers Facebook and Apple delayed orders, sending the storage vendor's shares down 21 per cent after the bell.

"... The change in our guidance reflects a two-quarter shift in the timing of their bulk purchases," Fusion-io chief financial officer Dennis Wolf said in a statement.

Facebook accounted for 30 per cent of Fusion-io's total sales of $359.3 million in its previous financial year, while Apple contributed 25 per cent.

The reduction in guidance is largely attributable to a reduction of expected shipments to Apple and Facebook.

The company, whose competitors include OCZ Technology Group and Stec, now expects revenue of about $420 million to $440 million in the year ending June 2013, down from its earlier estimate of about $521 million to $539 million.

Analysts on average were expecting revenue of $530.1 million in the period, according Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

"The reduction in guidance is largely attributable to a reduction of expected shipments to Apple and Facebook," Technology Insights Research analyst Nehal Chokshi said.

Earlier this month, the firm was trumpeting the work it's done with Facebook, who it described as a keen adopter of flash technology.

The company, which employs Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak as its chief scientist, makes solid state memory drives using NAND flash technology.

Fusion-io posted net income of $1.7 million, or 2 cents per share, in the second quarter, compared with a net loss of $5.7 million, or 7 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding items, it earned 13 cents per share, while revenue rose about 43 per cent to $120.6 million.

Analysts on average had expected adjusted earnings of 8 cents per share on revenue of $120.3 million.

The company's shares, which have fallen about 19 per cent in the last three months, were trading at $16.19 after the bell. They closed at $20.09 on the New York Stock Exchange.