SAN DIEGO-Wireless modem maker Novatel Wireless Inc. said it will meet its previous fourth-quarter revenue forecasts of between $9.6 and $9.8 million, news that helped push the company’s stock up about 7 percent. The company also announced its chief financial officer, Melvin Flowers, is leaving the company to take a position at Microsoft Corp.
“At this juncture in my career, I felt it was time for me to pursue a new set of opportunities, but I am very pleased to leave a rapidly strengthening Novatel Wireless that is building a strong foundation for the future,” Flowers said.
Novatel said its fourth quarter results would be a 20-percent sequential increase compared with the $8.1 million it reported in the previous quarter. The company said revenue growth has been driven primarily by the introduction of the company’s next-generation UMTS products, which began shipping late in December. Novatel will report its results Feb. 10.
The company’s stock was trading at about $7.34 per share Tuesday.
