EMC counts 90 of the Fortune 100 companies among its customers, including Citigroup Inc, Merrill Lynch & Co and Home Depot Inc, said EMC spokesman Mark Fredrickson.
Some investors said that even though the company is being hurt by the slowdown in demand for data storage and networking equipment, EMC will benefit when the economy improves and companies start spending again.
"EMC's franchise still is one of the best in the storage area," said Sunil Reddy, a fund manager at Fifth Third Bancorp, which owns EMC shares. "Once the IT [information technology] spending picks up, EMC should definitely be one of the beneficiaries," he said in an interview with Bloomberg Radio.
At least three analysts cut their ratings on EMC stock.
Kraemer downgraded the shares to a near-term "neutral" from a "buy." SG Cowen analyst Richard Chu cut his rating to "neutral" from "buy," and Thomas Weisel Partners analyst Doug Van Dorsten downgraded the stock to "market perform" from "buy.
EMC will report final quarterly results July 18. Spokesman Fredrickson said the company won't comment further on earnings until then. Veritas Chief Financial Officer Ken Lonchar said EMC's shortfall shows that businesses are shifting storage spending to software from hardware.
Lonchar reiterated Veritas's forecast for profit of 19 cents a share for the fourth quarter ended Saturday and said revenue increased 30 percent to 35 percent from the US$370.1 million reported in the same quarter last year. He said EMC's news was weighing unfairly on Veritas's shares.
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