Shares of Synchronoss Technologies plummeted Wednesday morning after the company offered worrying guidance on its revenue related to Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) 
iPhone.
The stock fell US$9.84, or 43 percent, to $13.06 in morning trading. The stock earlier hit a 52-week low of $12.72, far below a previous bottom of $15.15 set in early March.
Three Quarters in AT&T
Bridgewater, N.J.-based Synchronoss, which makes software for communication service providers, said late Tuesday its quarterly profit rose 17 percent and revenue jumped 37 percent.About 72 percent of revenue came from AT&T (NYSE: T) , the exclusive U.S. carrier of the iPhone. However, the company said it expects AT&T to comprise over 40 percent of total sales as it exits 2008 and does "not expect to see the majority of the impact from recently added customer engagements until 2009 and beyond."
'Altered Dynamics'
Thomas Weisel Partners analyst Tom Roderick cut his rating to "Market Weight" from "Overweight."
"We find ourselves failing to fully grasp the altered dynamics of the company's iPhone relationship," Roderick wrote in a note to clients.
While the iPhone revenue is not likely to vanish, the sharp drop in expected revenue implies either the scope of the deal is shrinking, more iPhones are being "unlocked" -- made to work on any network 
-- or Apple may be moving to place the iPhone on networks beyond AT&T, he said.
"While we search for clarity with respect to this situation, we recommend that investors move to the sidelines as believe the stock can approach the single digits," he said.
Also Wednesday, Needham & Co. analyst Andrew Spinola downgraded Synchronoss to "Hold" from "Buy" and echoed concern about the iPhone.
© 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
© 2008 ECT News Network. All rights reserved.
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