Silicon Graphics Q3 loss to widen fourfold

Troubled workstation vendor Silicon Graphics (SGI) yesterday warned that its third-quarter (which itself ended yesterday) loss will be wider than it had earlier predicted. Wall Street analysts have been expecting a seven cents a share loss for the quarter, but SGI, without mentioning specific loss predictions, said that it would likely be 20-25 cents larger than anticipated. It also said revenue would be in the $600-650 million range. The company blamed the deepening loss on production delays and glitches that have hit its ability to ship its new Windows NT-based workstations. Senior VP of corporate operations Bill Kelly said the company had no excuses for the production problems, which he described as "not acceptable". He added that SGI would announce a "clarification of responsibilities" during the next few weeks. That's almost certainly a sign that senior heads will roll, though Kelly himself refused to comment on the likelihood of high-level firings. ®