Shares in Craneware tumbled 24% to 1,022p as investors took fright at a guidance cut, even though the healthcare software group's full-year results landed broadly as forecast.
The seller of software that helps US hospitals manage their finances, has reset its revenue expectations for the current year in the wake of a cyber attack in July.
That reset, rather than the numbers themselves, did the damage.
Broker Peel Hunt captured the mood, placing both its rating and target price under review and warning that the fresh caution means cuts to its forecasts for FY27 and beyond.
The broker trimmed its estimates sharply, lopping 36% off expected core profit for FY27 and 26% for the year after.
It noted that the new guidance, built around annual recurring revenue of $185 million and a slimmer 30% margin by the end of FY27, effectively marks what Craneware itself sees as a worst-case scenario.
The uncertainty stems partly from the cyber incident, whose full financial impact neither the company nor its advisers can yet pin down.
Peel Hunt was careful to stress that the breach does not, at least for now, raise doubts about Craneware's ability to keep trading.
The broker also argued that the longer-term investment case remains intact, pointing out that Craneware has weathered severe headwinds before and tends to emerge with fresh opportunities.
One of those could be looming changes to 340B, the US drug discount scheme that has weighed on demand but may soon start to turn in the group's favour.
To steady itself in the meantime, Craneware has launched a review of its cost base aimed at protecting margins.
