Micros Systems shares plunge on 2008 outlook

Excluding stock-based compensation, Micros said it will earn at least $1.32 per share for the year, while analysts polled by Thomson Financial expect profit of $1.37 per share.

However, the company raised its 2008 revenue outlook to at least $930 million from a previous forecast between $910 million and $915 million.

Analysts anticipate revenue of $944.3 million.

Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Gil Luria said that the company's full-year outlook was "even more conservative than usual."

Luria said the company's figures offer an "unlikely" scenario for 2008.

"The guidance implies a highly unlikely sequential decline of 2 percent in a seasonally stronger fourth quarter and a sharp deceleration in annual growth," Luria said.

Shares in Columbia, Md.-based Micros fell $5.74, or 16.1 percent, to close at $29.91. They have traded in the past 12 months between $25.12 and $37.49.