The Santa Cruz Operation Inc’s warning at the end of last week that it would suffer weaker than expected earnings for its first quarter, sent shares plunging to $3.50 by the end of play on Friday, a 20% loss in value. SCO, which is suffering from doubts about the future of the Unix market, said it now expects to earn between two and five cents a share in its first quarter, due to be reported on January 27th. Revenues are likely come in between $47.5m and $50m, it said, compared with $56.6m in the same quarter last year, when it earned $4m, or 11 cents a share. The company predictably blamed weak sales in Asia for its problems, along with increased expenses associated with new product launches. It hasn’t yet achieved volume shipments of its latest UnixWare 7 operating system upgrade, revenues from which are expected to kick in during the second quarter.
