EMC delivers strong fourth quarter, ups 2011 outlook

Storage giant EMC reported strong fourth quarter results and raised its outlook for 2011.

The company on Tuesday reported earnings of $628.6 million, or 29 cents a share, on revenue of $4.9 billion, up 19 percent from a year ago. Non-GAAP earnings were 42 cents a share, a penny ahead of Wall Street estimates.  Wall Street was looking for fourth quarter earnings of 41 cents a share on revenue of $4.79 billion.

For 2010, EMC reported earnings of $1.9 billion, or 88 cents a share, on revenue of $17 billion, up 21 percent from a year ago.

EMC last week launched a big push into the midmarket and is aggressively targeting NetApp. The company also plans to more aggressively market its wares. Last week's product launch featured more showmanship than has been the norm for EMC.

As for the outlook, EMC was upbeat about its prospects.

The company projected earnings of $2.4 billion, or $1.07 a share, on revenue of $19.6 billion. Non-GAAP earnings are projected to be about $1.46 a share. Wall Street was expecting EMC to deliver earnings of $1.45 a share on revenue of $18.96 billion.

In a statement, EMC CEO Joe Tucci said the company was gaining share and positioned to benefit from cloud computing, data management and virtualization via its stake of fast growing VMware. Tucci added that EMC is well positioned to "lead this transformational shift to IT as a service."

Here's a look at EMC's revenue breakdown, excluding VMware. Related: VMWare earnings: A solid quarter, year as virtualization momentum continues