Sierra Wireless beats guidance, outlook calls for sun

Sierra Wireless Inc. said yesterday that its revenue and profits exceeded its guidance for the first quarter and forecast sequential growth, in the wake of a chastened outlook from competitor Novatel Wireless.
Sierra Wireless’ stock was down more than 4% this morning.
The company, which makes AirCards and embedded laptop modems, reported that revenue hit nearly $142 million, up 66% from the year-ago quarter, and net earnings reached $9.7 million, up 83% over the year-ago quarter.
Sierra Wireless guided for $154 million in revenue and $11 million in net earnings for the current quarter.
The company said it achieved its results based on sales of PC adapters, embedded modems and products from its AirLink acquisition, despite “a challenging component supply environment.”
Sierra Wireless announced earlier this month that it reached an agreement to acquire CradlePoint Inc., a supplier of wireless networking products and docking solutions for the mobile enterprise, industrial and consumer applications.
Novatel said that a major component of its lowered outlook was the delay in a product launch by “a major European carrier,” without providing details.
Novatel is set to report its earnings tomorrow.