Navistar shares plummet on reduced sales forecast

Navistar International Corp., a maker of commercial and military vehicles, fell the most in almost a year after it cut its annual sales forecast, the result of deferring military revenue to next year.

Sales in the year ending Oct. 31 will be $12 billion, compared with a June forecast of as much as $13.7 billion. Navistar, based in Warrenville, said profit will be "toward the upper end" of its forecast of $2.75 to $3.25 a share. Analysts in a Bloomberg survey estimated $3.04 a share and $12.5 billion in sales, on average.

Navistar gets about 25 percent of its revenue from sales to the U.S. government. The company, which supplies military vehicles to 24 countries, today reported net income of $137 million, or $1.83 a share in the three months ended July 10, on a 29 percent increase in revenue to $3.22 billion. A year ago, it reported a net loss of $12 million, or 16 cents a share.

Navistar fell $3.09, or 7 percent, to $41.27 at 4:15 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading, the biggest drop since Sept. 10, 2009. The stock rose 15 percent this year before today.