During the quarter, which ended October 31, 2001, the maker of optical subsystems, test equipment, and storage networking gear suffered a net loss of $55.4 million, or 31 cents per share, down from a net loss of $22.5 million, or 15 cents per share in the second quarter of fiscal 2001.
After a series of non-cash and cash charges, Finisar reported a pro forma net loss of $9.1 million, or 5 cents per diluted share, for the quarter, compared to a pro forma net income of $7.5 million, or 4 cents per diluted share, for the same period a year earlier.
Despite the losses, Jerry Rawls, President and CEO of Finisar, was cautiously optimistic. We continue to believe that this industry has enormous growth potential, he said on a conference call yesterday. In terms of our activity with customers, its at fever-pitch. There is a very high level of activity going on.
The optimism doesn't translate into a better forecast for the companys third quarter, however. Rawls said last night that Finisar's growth will be flat or even negative during this period. I am frankly trying to be conservative, he admitted, saying that the companys outlook was based on the forecasts of its customers. Thats why I say flat to down a little bit. Were pretty optimistic, but we hesitate to be euphoric, or to beat the drum or the table too loudly.
Robertson's Illic agrees with Finisar's cautious stance: Things are basically stabilizing. They have reached a level where they will probably stay for some time.