Sun Microsystems (NASDAQ: JAVA) showed, once again, that it is one of the worst performing large-tech companies in America. The firm said its loss will be between 25 cents and 35 cents per share for the three months ended Sept. 28. Excluding one-time charges, the drop is between 2 cents and 12 cents per share. To make matters worse, it will probably take goodwill impairment charges for companies it has bought over the last two years. In other words, Sun paid too much.

Sun's revenue is also expected to be light, at about $3 billion.

It is old news to say that Sun has not come up with a single product compelling enough to get it out of the mud. Its servers are no better than those marketed by IBM (NYSE: IBM) or other large hardware companies. Corporate customers tend to go with the supplier that has the largest service force and best balance sheet.

The announcement does raise the question of why Sun is not being sold by its board. The stock trades at just above $5, down from a 52-week high of $24.08. So far this year, it is off nearly 70% while IBM is down only 12%.

Sun has a clean balance sheet with plenty of cash and modest debt. It would fit well with a number of larger companies that would like a larger part of the global server market.

Let the auction begin.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247walls.com.