Shares of AST Research Inc have been sliding – off $5.25 to $23.50 Wednesday – as it confirmed fears that earnings and sales estimates for the latest quarter had been too high: citing competitive pressures, AST says sales will fall within a range of $580m to $600m for the fiscal third quarter to March 31 from the range of $620m to $640m previously forecast; AST also said its earnings estimate, which it had put at 40-cents-a-share or so for the third quarter, was too high.
