Tut warns of another earnings shortfall

Video equipment vendor Tut Systems warned today that its second-quarter revenue and gross margin will be lower than previously indicated. Several large video headend orders that were expected to close during the quarter did not, Tut said, and revenue from the company’s new multi-tenant system, the T2, was lower than expected.

Tut now expects about $8.2 million in second-quarter revenue, 35% below its previous expectation, 29% less than it reported in the first quarter, and 15% lower than it reported a year ago.

“A number of potential new IOC/PTT customers extended their IPTV purchase decisions into later periods,” Tut’s Chairman and CEO Sal D'Auria said in a statement issued today, adding that he was “disappointed” by the second-quarter preliminary results but “encouraged” by the level of customer interest.

“We have also made meaningful progress this quarter with the various Tier 1 opportunities that we have been pursuing,” he said.

Today’s earnings warning is the second so far this year from Tut, which replaced its chief financial officer in May amid restructuring and downsizing efforts (including an 8% workforce reduction) meant to save $3 million.

With little more than 100 employees, Tut faces stiff competition from much larger vendors Cisco Systems and Motorola.

“We believe this [earnings warning] is a temporary blip while we await the far bigger news regarding a major U.S. [Bell company] opportunity, to be decided this year,” Think Equity Partners analyst Eric Kainer wrote in a research note this morning. “The only risk factor that has changed today is that the probability of Tut raising new money, probably in the form of equity, has increased. This probability was already well over 50%, so whether this probability has gone from 90% to 95%, probability is not likely to change many minds.”