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Home robot maker iRobot ( IRBT ) malfunctioned on Thursday after giving disappointing 2016 guidance. IRobot stock fell 14.2% to 28.39 on the stock market today . The maker of Roomba robotic vacuum cleaners reported fourth-quarter results that beat Wall Street’s targets. IRobot earned 65 cents a share on sales of $206.4 million for the quarter ended Jan. 2. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected iRobot to earn 57 cents a share on sales of $202.8 million. On a year-over-year basis, EPS was up 110%, and sales were up 30%. However, investors were let down by the company’s Q1 and full-year guidance. IRobot expects to break even in Q1 on sales of $130 million, based on the midpoint of its guidance. Analysts were modeling for earnings per share of 25 cents on sales of $137.9 million. For the full year, the Bedford, Mass.-based company is targeting $1.30 EPS on $636 million in sales at the midpoint of guidance. Analysts were looking for $1.64 EPS on sales of $692.9 million. IRobot’s guidance includes the sale of its defense and security robot business to a private equity group, announced last week . Piper Jaffray analyst Troy Jensen on Thursday reiterated his neutral rating on iRobot stock but cut his price target to 30 from 35. “We continue to view iRobot as one of the better-positioned companies in the emerging consumer robot market and believe robot adoption in the household is increasing,” Jensen said in a report. “We expect further distribution of the Roomba 980, stronger marketing focus in wet floor care and new product introductions to represent solid catalysts in 2016.” In addition to Roomba vacuums, iRobot also makes Scooba floor-washing robots, Mirra pool-cleaning robots and Looj gutter-cleaning robots. “Revenue, excluding (defense and security), is expected to grow 11% to 13% in 2016 as we expand worldwide distribution of Roomba 980, tap further into a large and growing market in China and build our wet-floor care business,” iRobot CEO Colin Angle said in a statement . RELATED: IRobot Sells Military Robot Division To Focus On Home Robots . Scalper1 News
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