Finisar CEO Eitan Gertel Resigns, Shares Fall After Earnings Miss

Finisar Corp. Chief Executive Eitan Gertel stepped down Thursday, with no reason given for the departure. The networking company announced Gertel's resignation in a three-paragraph news release and said Chairman Jerry Rawls will assume the role of CEO. "We appreciate Eitan's leadership and the important strategic initiatives he has driven for the company," Rawls said in the release. The Sunnyvale, Calif., company also detailed earnings for its fiscal first quarter Thursday, revealing profit of $3.4 million, or 3 cents a share, on sales of $314 million; after adjustments, Finisar claimed profit of 23 cents a share. Analysts polled by FactSet expected adjusted profits of 26 cents a share on sales of $319 million. Finisar shares fell more than 6% in late trading after closing with a 1.1% gain at $14.91.