NetApp cuts outlook for fiscal Q1
NetApp reported a mixed fourth quarter as earnings topped estimates, but sales fell short. Meanwhile, the storage company also cut its outlook for the first quarter.
The company, which is under fire from all-Flash based storage players as well as established giants such as EMC and Hitachi, is struggling to find its groove in the hybrid data center fray, say analysts.
NetApp reported fourth quarter earnings of $197 million, or 59 cents a share, on revenue of $1.65 billion. Non-GAAP earnings were 84 cents a share.
Wall Street was looking for non-GAAP earnings of 79 cents a share on revenue of $1.67 billion.
Pure Storage's latest arrays aim to broaden Flash data center deployments
Q&A with NetApp's CTO: Amazon deal, competitors, layoffs and growth
For fiscal 2014, NetApp reported earnings of $505 million, or $1.37 a share, on revenue of $6.32 billion.
As for the outlook, NetApp projected non-GAAP earnings of 53 cents a share to 58 cents a share on revenue of $1.42 billion to $1.52 billion.
Wall Street, however, was looking for non-GAAP earnings of 62 cents a share on revenue of $1.52 billion.
In a statement, CEO Tom Georgens said that the company gained market share for the year and its ONTAP software and Flash portfolio set it up well for the future.
The challenge for NetApp is that it's moving upstream to larger enterprises and will have a tough run competing with EMC. NetApp typically played well in the midmarket. In addition, all Flash players like Pure Storage are now targeting midmarket companies.