Juniper's revenue grows but misses estimates; EPS in-line

Silicon Valley network equipment maker Juniper Networks reported fourth quarter revenue of $923.5 million, up 14 percent from the year-ago quarter but short of Wall Street's estimates of $936.5 million. Excluding special items, Juniper reported a profit of $169 million, or 32 cents per share, in-line with Wall Street's estimates. (Statement)

Despite the growth, analysts have said that the network maker could be in for some tough times as the global economy continues to hammer down and companies around the globe scale back spending. Juniper has suspended growth initiatives, frozen raises and could reduce its workforce this year, according to an earnings preview on the Seeking Alpha blog.

Less than a year ago, the outlook was promising for Juniper, which was seeing "consistent success" in enterprise accounts across industries various industries, notably financial services. In a post last summer, Larry Dignan wrote about the hiring of former Microsoft executive Kevin Johnson as Juniper's CEO. noting that he was "inheriting a company that has a good stride."

In a statement today, Johnson said:

We continue to play offense and grow market share while at the same time taking action to responsibly manage our cost structure. The long-term growth fundamentals of high performance networking remain strong and by strengthening our product portfolio and focusing on the customer, Juniper is positioned for accelerated growth once market conditions improve.

Shares of Juniper were down more than 7 percent in regular trading, closing at $16.97. Shares continued to fall in after hours trading, down almost 9 percent more.