BroadSoft Shares Slide On Weak Q3 Results, Outlook

(RTTNews) - Shares of BroadSoft, Inc. (BSFT) plunged more than 18 percent in extended trades Monday after the multimedia software maker reported a loss for the third quarter on revenues that missed analysts' expectations and it forecast fourth-quarter results below Street view. The company also lowered its fiscal 2013 outlook and said it has some short-term concerns about the service provider spending environment in the fourth quarter.

BroadSoft's third-quarter net loss was $4.05 million or $0.14 per share, compared to net income of $3.14 million or $0.11 per share in the year-ago period.

On an adjusted basis, net income was $8.42 million or $0.29 per share, compared to $10.00 million or $0.36 per share in the prior-year period. On average, 13 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $0.30 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Total revenue for the quarter grew 7 percent to $42.90 million from $40.17 million in the same period last year, but missed analysts' consensus revenue estimate of $45.16 million.

Gross margin for the quarter was 75 percent, down from 81 percent in the prior-year period.

Looking ahead to the fourth quarter, BroadSoft anticipates adjusted earnings of $0.34 to $0.49 per share on revenues in a range of $47 million to $53 million. Analysts expect the company to report earnings of $0.51 per share for the quarter on revenues of $54.85 million.

Jim Tholen, chief financial officer of BroadSoft said, "We believe our longer-term outlook remains positive although we have some short-term concerns about the service provider spending environment in the fourth quarter. We continue to believe that we are very well-positioned to take advantage of the secular trend of enterprise communications moving to the cloud."

For fiscal 2013, BroadSoft now expects adjusted earnings of $1.13 to $1.28 per share on revenues of $173.5 million to $179.5 million. Earlier, the company had expected adjusted earnings of $1.15 to $1.40 per share on revenues in a range of $181 million to $186 million. Analysts currently estimate earnings of $1.31 per share for the year on revenues of $183.60 million.

BSFT closed Monday's regular trading session at $33.14, up $0.17 or 0.52 percent on a volume of 706,700 shares. However, in after-hours, the stock declined $6.14 or 18.53 percent to $27.00.