Tibco shares slide on earnings warning

Tibco Software Inc. shares slid in after-hours trading Tuesday after it warned that its fiscal fourth-quarter and full-year results will fall short of market expectations.

The software company expects to earn 26 or 27 cents per share — 37 or 38 cents per share on an adjusted basis. It forecast revenue of $292 million to $295 million.

Analysts expected Tibco to earn 44 cents per share on revenue of $316 million.

For the full year, the company forecast earnings of 69 or 70 cents per share — $1.10 to $1.11 per share, excluding one-time items. It expects annual revenue to be about $1.02 billion. Analysts forecast $1.17 per share on revenue of $1.04 billion.

"I am disappointed that we fell short this quarter," said Tibco CEO Vivek Ranadivé. He said government spending pullbacks and deal delays caused by Superstorm Sandy hurt the company's earnings.

The company is scheduled to report fourth-quarter and full-year results on Dec. 20.

Shares of Tibco, based in Palo Alto, Calif., fell $3.32, or 13.4 percent, to $21.40 in after-hours trading.