Fusion-io integration hurts chipmaker SanDisk's revenue forecast

By Soham Chatterjee (Reuters) - Chipmaker SanDisk Corp forecast current-quarter revenue below analysts' estimates due to lower revenue from Fusion-io Inc, a solid-state storage products maker it acquired in June. SanDisk's shares fell 5 percent in extended trading, after the company also reported lower-than-expected revenue for the third quarter. SanDisk, a supplier of memory chips for Apple Inc's iPhones, bought Fusion-io to enter the high-margin solid-state drives (SSDs) business. The company has been increasing its focus on the fast-growing SSD business also to offset the impact of volatility in prices of memory chips due to excess capacity. Rival Samsung Electronics Co Ltd said last week that it would spend $15 billion to build a major new factory in South Korea to make either memory chips or logic chips. SanDisk forecast revenue of $1.80 billion-$1.85 billion for the fourth quarter ending December. Analysts on average were expecting $1.88 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. "Fusion-io revenue was down sequentially from the prior run rate ... We expect that (Fusion-io revenue) would be down sequentially (in current quarter) ... due to the integration of the business and the sales force," SanDisk's Chief Financial Officer Judy Bruner said on a conference call. The company's net income fell 5 percent to $262.7 million, or $1.09 per share, in the third quarter ended Sept. 28 as expenses rose 9 percent, mainly due to costs related to restructuring and the acquisition of Fusion-io. Excluding item, SanDisk earned $1.45 per share. Revenue rose 7 percent to $1.75 billion (1.09 billion pounds). Analysts on average had expected a profit of $1.33 per share and revenue of $1.77 billion. The revenue miss "is a bit of negative surprise given how strong the launch of the Apple's next gen iPhones have been and the addition of recent acquisition Fusion IO," Wedbush Securities analyst Betsy Van Hees told Reuters. SanDisk also said it would pay a quarterly dividend of 30 cents per share. The company's shares closed at $85.31 on the Nasdaq on Thursday. Up to Thursday's close, the stock had risen 21 percent this year. (Editing by Kirti Pandey)