Shares of the life-sciences company tumbled 33% after Affymetrix lowered year revenue guidance, citing an expectation of "lower research spending by pharmaceutical and industrial customers." The company said it will review "ways to further reduce operating expenses to offset the impact of this revenue reduction." R.W. Baird analyst Quintin Lai maintained an Outperform rating and cut the price target to $21 from $30. Lai wrote that Affymetrix will likely cut or temporarily shelve new research and development and general and administrative initiatives.
AFFX's Q4 profits have increased 47 percent fro last quarter, prompting many analysts to upgrade the rating of its stock to a "buy" position.
AFFX has agreed to acquire USB Corp for $75 million. USB Corp is a maker of molecular biology and genetic analysis reagents. The acquisition of USB Corp. will allow AFFX an increased ability to produce reagents for its GeneChip product systems.
