Meritor Falls After Q1 Loss; Stock Down 12%

Shares of commercial truck parts company Meritor (NYSE: MTOR) were last trading down more than 12 percent on Wednesday after the company released its fiscal first-quarter earnings. Prior to the report, MTOR had been in an uptrend, hitting 6 month highs on Monday, January 28. The company's GAAP loss grew in the quarter to $16 million or $0.17 per share, compared to $13 million or $0.13 per share, in the year ago period. The company reported an adjusted loss of $11 million or $0.11 per share, compared to income of $11 million or $0.12 per share, last year. Heading into the report, Wall Street analysts' had consensus EPS estimates of $0.04. For the quarter, Meritor reported sales of $891 million, down 23 percent versus last year's $1.16 billion. This came in well below consensus estimates of $940.73 million. Looking ahead to fiscal 2012, the company said that revenue from continuing operations will now be around $3.8 billion versus its previous guidance of $4 billion. Adjusted earnings per share are still expected to be between $0.25 and $0.35.