Novell earnings come up short

Novell posted disappointing quarterly results Tuesday due to weak sales of older products, and said it expected to take restructuring charges in 2007, driving its shares down over 8 percent.

Novell shares fell 8.4 percent in after-hours electronic trading from their Nasdaq close of $6.33.

Although Novell reported a preliminary fiscal fourth quarter profit, bouncing from a year-ago loss, revenue fell 15 percent to $244.9 million. That missed the average Wall Street forecast of $251.5 million according to Reuters Estimates.

"Overall these are disappointing results," said Jefferies & Co. analyst Katherine Egbert, citing the lower-than-expected quarterly sales figure and Novell's 2007 sales outlook.

Novell earnings come up short.