Fico Score Founder to Miss Earnings Estimates
Published January 14th, 2008 in Credit News.
Fair Isaac, the creator of the widely-used Fico score, said today that its preliminary earnings and revenue results for the fiscal first quarter ended in December will fall short of the company’s expectations.
Although the company didn’t provide a reason for the decline, it’s likely the ongoing mortgage mess is dampening profits amid weaker demand for loans and related services.
It now expects to report earnings ranging from $19 million to $21 million, or 37 to 39 cents per share, on revenue of $198 to $200 million for the first quarter.
The Minneapolis, Minnesota-based company previously estimated profit of 45 cents per share on revenue of $205 million, while analysts polled by Thomson Financial forecast EPS of 45 cents on revenue of $205.3 million.
In the same period a year ago, Fair Isaac reported earnings of $31.2 million, or 52 cents per share, on revenue of $208.2 million.
For the second quarter, Fair Isaac now expects earnings of 44 cents per share on revenue of $205 million, below analysts’ expectations of 48 cents per share on revenue of $209.9 million.
The company also said fiscal 2008 earnings would come in lower, at just $1.80 to $1.90 per share on revenue of $825 million to $835 million, down from previous guidance of $2 per share on $850 million in revenue.
Shares of Fair Isaac plunged in after hours trade, falling $2.74, or 9.67%, to $25.60, marking a fresh 52-week low.
Fair Isaac is expected to release a full earnings report on January 22.
