Juniper beats with preliminary numbers, acknowledges 'challenged' spending
Juniper Networks Inc. reported preliminary results for its third quarter on Thursday, beating on revenue and earnings while pointing to "challenged" spending from service providers. The shares were up 2.6% in after-hours trading. Juniper posted net income of $99.3 million, or 29 cents a share, down from $223.8 million, or 64 cents a share, in the year-prior period. After adjusting for stock-based compensation and other expenses, earnings fell to 48 cents a share from 54 cents a share. Analysts were modeling 46 cents. Revenue slipped to $1.13 billion from $1.2 billion, whereas analysts were expecting $1.4 billion. "While we are encouraged to see improved momentum with our cloud customers, service provider spending remains challenged and we experienced weaker than expected enterprise orders in the September quarter," Chief Executive Rami Rahim said in a release. "Despite this backdrop, we still expect to deliver modest year-over-year growth during the December quarter and remain optimistic regarding our long-term growth prospects." The company is calling for $1.155 billion to $1.215 billion in fourth-quarter revenue and 54 cents to 60 cents in adjusted EPS. The FactSet consensus was for $1.216 billion and 57 cents, respectively. Shares have lost 8.9% so far this year, while the S&P 500 has risen 20%.
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