Tech earnings a mixed bag

Earnings from technology vendors were mixed on Thursday as Fusion-io stumbled with a disappointing outlook, but F5 Networks, ServiceNow and Akamai shined.

Here's the roundup.

• Video conferencing company Polycom reported a third quarter loss of $24 million, or 14 cents a share, on revenue of $336 million. Non-GAAP earnings were 11 cents a share. The results were in line with expectations.
• F5 Networks reported fiscal fourth quarter earnings of $76.2 million, or 97 cents a share, on revenue of $395.3 million, up 7 percent from a year ago. Non-GAAP earnings were $1.26 a share. Wall Street was looking for fourth quarter earnings of $1.19 a share on revenue of $385 million. For the first quarter, F5 projected non-GAAP earnings of $1.17 a share to $1.20 a share on revenue of $390 million to $400 million. Wall Street was expecting earnings of $1.20 a share on revenue of $389.6 million for the first quarter.
• Hosting firm Equinix reported third quarter earnings of $36.6 million, or 72 cents a share, on revenue of $540.5 million, up 11 percent from a year ago. Wall Street was looking for earnings of 58 cents a share on revenue of $539.7 million. For the fourth quarter, Equinix sees revenue between $559 million and $563 million. Wall Street was looking for fourth quarter sales of $556.4 million.
• ServiceNow reported a third quarter net loss of $14.7 million, or 11 cents a share, on revenue of $111.3 million, up 73 percent from a year ago. Non-GAAP earnings were a penny a share. Wall Street was expecting a loss of 2 cents a share on revenue of $105.3 million. For the fourth quarter, ServiceNow is projecting revenue between $119 million and $121 million with a net loss of 2 cents a share. Wall Street was looking for sales of $115 million for the fourth quarter and a net loss of 9 cents a share.
• Flash data center storage player Fusion-io reported a first quarter loss of $27.9 million, or 28 cents a share, on revenue of $86.3 million. The company's non-GAAP loss was 7 cents a share. Wall Street was looking for a non-GAAP loss of 11 cents a share on revenue of $84.7 million. Fusion-io, which has delivered rocky quarters recently, said it was making progress on its strategic plan, but its outlook for the second quarter fell way short of expectations. Fusion-io projected revenue to be up slightly sequentially. Wall Street was looking for second quarter revenue of $113.8 million.
• Akamai reported third quarter earnings of $80 million, or 44 cents a share, on revenue of $396 million. Non-GAAP earnings were 50 cents a share. Wall Street was expecting third quarter non-GAAP earnings of 46 cents a share on revenue of $387.5 million.