Shares in the California-based software house - which generates a quarter of its revenues from the financial services sector - dipped by 12 percent in after-hours trading after the company disclosed third quarter results well below analyst estimates.

The firm is projecting earnings of 4 cents to 5 cents a share for the quarter on total revenue of $133 million and license sales of $52 million. Analysts had been forecasting earnings of up to 7 cents a share.

Vivek Ranadive, chairman and chief executive officer, Tibco, says: "Although business was notably weak in financial services and government, the late change in business occurred in a variety of geographies and verticals and appears most related to unanticipated delays in deal-specific approval processes. Competitive losses were not a factor, so we do expect some of the business that fell out of the quarter to return in subsequent quarters.

In a client note, Jefferies & Co. analyst Katherine Egbert, said that the forecast pointed to a slow down in tech spending among banks.

She warns: "Although Tibco is a relatively small vendor, their third-quarter results could be a first glimpse into a potentially larger slowdown in financial services spending."

Others have described Tibco as "the canary in the coal mine" for bank IT spending, and warned of the potential knock-on effects to other firms reliant on financial services tech budgets.