What happened
Shares of Infinera (INFN -0.91%) have dropped today, down by 10% as of 12:30 p.m. EDT, amid a broad market sell-off over novel coronavirus fears and a precipitous plunge in oil prices. Investors are becoming increasingly concerned that the COVID-19 outbreak could cause a global recession, and tech companies with operations in China face greater exposure.
So what
As the number of confirmed coronavirus cases continues to climb worldwide, the macroeconomic risks are mounting. Infinera uses four contract manufacturers to produce its optical networking equipment, with most of those facilities concentrated in Asia -- specifically, China, Malaysia, and Thailand. The company notes in regulatory filings that it is able to "redirect select manufacturing activities to U.S. qualified factories of three electronic manufacturing services partners."
Image source: Getty Images.
Infinera reported fourth-quarter results last month, and its guidance for Q1 included an estimated impact of $15 million related to the coronavirus.
Now what
The coronavirus outbreak isn't expected to hurt demand for Infinera products very much, so the risks primarily relate to supply-chain disruptions. On the conference call with analysts, CEO Tom Fallon said:
While we have very limited exposure [to the coronavirus outbreak] from a customer perspective, our supply chain does include some risk for material either sourced directly by Infinera or indirectly through some of our supply partners. The situation in China continues to evolve. And due to the unknown duration and magnitude of the coronavirus outbreak, it is too early to fully assess the projected impact on our ability to service our customers.
Revenue in the first quarter is expected to be $323 million, plus or minus $10 million.
