Coherent posts disappointing income
Coherent Inc. (Santa Clara, CA) expects net income for its fourth fiscal quarter, ended September 27, 1997, to be between $0.54 and $0.58 per share--significantly below analysts` expectations of $0.80 per share. Sales are expected to be between $103 million and $104 million, which would be a record high for the company but also less than anticipated. The company said its results were affected by currency exchange rates (more than half of Coherent`s business is outside the USA), pricing pressures on some laser products, increased research and development spending, and the ramp-u¥of its Verdi diode-pumped solid-state-laser.