Fusion-io expects small rise in second-quarter revenue; CFO quits

(Reuters) - Flash storage-drive maker Fusion-io Inc forecast only a small rise in second-quarter revenue and said its chief financial officer had resigned, sending its shares down 9 percent in extended trading. Fusion-io, which makes solid state memory drives using NAND flash technology and counts Facebook Inc and Apple Inc as customers, said it expected second-quarter revenue to be slightly up from the first quarter. The company said revenue fell 27 percent to $86.3 million in the first quarter. Analysts expected second-quarter revenue of $113.8 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. The company, which employs Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak as its chief scientist, forecast adjusted gross margin to be in the range of 52 to 54 percent in the second quarter. Fusion-io said it was searching for a replacement for CFO Dennis Wolf. "We have, obviously, had some organizational issues which have constrained visibility," Chief Executive CEO Shane Robison said in a post-earnings conference call. Fusion-io reported a loss of $27.9 million, or 28 cents per share, for the first quarter, compared with net income of $3.9 million, or 4 cents per share, a year earlier. Excluding items, Fusion-io posted a loss of 7 cents per share. Analysts had expected a loss of 11 cents per share on revenue of $84.7 million. The company said in August it expected to grow 20 percent for the year ending June 2014. The company's shares fell to $11.30 in extended trading. (Reporting By Aurindom Mukherjee in Bangalore; Editing by Maju Samuel and Don Sebastian)