Steelcase, Knoll Shares Hammered Following Disappointing Q3 Results, Q4 Outlook

Two names in the Office Furniture group are under heavy pressure Tuesday afternoon as Steelcase

, one of the big players in that sector, offered some concerning results after the close Monday. Steelcase shares are trading down some 23 percent Tuesday. Shares of close peer Knoll Corp.

are trading down more than nine percent. Both names are seeing extremely high volume. Nearly seven million shares of Steelcase have traded hands during the session, compared to the stock's normal daily volume of just 476,000 shares. Knoll has saw around 1.3 million shares traded, versus average daily volume of under 300,000 shares. Steelcase reported third-quarter earnings of $0.30 per share on sales of around $787.6 million. Although the bottom-line figure up modestly from $0.29 reported in the same quarter last year, the result was worse than expected when compared against the analyst consensus estimate of $0.32. Probably most concerning for both Steelcase and Knoll investors alike, Steelcase offered a look into the fourth quarter which missed even the high end of the company's range. Steelcase said it is expecting fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of $0.20-$0.24 per share, below the Street estimate of $0.25. Despite the less-than-desired report, Steelcase's Pres and CEO was hopeful: "We remain optimistic about our new products and longer-term demand driven by the need for companies to modernize their workspaces. In addition, our sales strategies are gaining traction in EMEA: our win rates with leading organizations are improving, newer products are growing faster than anticipated and excitement continues to build regarding the Munich Learning + Innovation Center."