Shares Of AVID Fall Sharply

(From Forbes.com -- By R.M. Schneiderman)

Shares of AVID TECHNOLOGY plummeted last Tuesday morning in trading, falling more than 14%, after the company, which makes editing products for digital media, said its audio business was struggling during the third quarter.

The reason -- a sales dip of its PRO TOOLS HD editing software.

In early August, AVID said it would release a version of
PRO TOOLS that is compatible with APPLE's new INTEL-based MAC PRO. Avid expected a drop off in its older version of Pro Tools, which is based on Apple's G5 Macintosh computers.

On Tuesday, however, the company said in a press release that this slackening has had a greater-than-expected effect due to "the significant improvement in the price/performance of the new Intel-based Mac platform."

The Intel Mac Pro version of Pro Tools has been available since September 18th, but new orders have not sufficiently offset the sales declines of the older product.

In response, the company said its non-GAAP earnings per share results for the third quarter will likely be at the lower end of the 35 cents to 49 cents the company guided in July.

Avid shares fell $5.51 to $38.36 in Tuesday morning trading.

Avid will announce its third-quarter results on October 26th after the market closes.

[Maybe we should go and buy that needed Pro Tools system, eh? Or screw that altogether and pull out those razor blades and splicing blocks from of the closet.]