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VMware's first quarter impresses; Juniper, Riverbed strong too

Technology earnings were strong across the board on Tuesday. VMware handily topped expectations as Juniper and Riverbed delivered solid results.
Written by Larry Dignan, Contributor

Technology earnings were strong across the board on Tuesday. VMware handily topped expectations as Juniper and Riverbed delivered solid results.

Here's the recap:

VMware blows away estimates

VMware reported first quarter earnings of $126 million, or 29 cents a share, on revenue of $844 million, up 33 percent from a year ago. Non-GAAP earnings were 48 cents a share. Wall Street was expecting earnings of 42 cents a share on revenue of $814.6 million. VMware said:

  • License revenue was up 34 percent from a year ago.
  • Services revenue was up 32 percent from a year ago.
  • VMware saw strong demand across all geographies.

As for the outlook, VMware projected second quarter revenue to be $860 million to $880 million. Wall Street was expecting second quarter revenue of $845 million. For 2011, VMware projected revenue of $3.55 billion to $3.65 billion. Wall Street was expecting $3.52 billion. VMware added that it sees its operating margin to expand "slightly" from a year ago.

The results point to strong earnings from VMware parent EMC on Wednesday.

Juniper earnings outlook light

Juniper Networks met Wall Street expectations with first quarter net income of $130 million, or 24 cents a share, on revenue of $1.1 billion, up 24 percent from a year ago. Non-GAAP earnings were 32 cents a share. Wall Street was looking for earnings of 32 cents a share on revenue of $1.09 billion. Operating margins in the first quarter were 16.1 percent, down from 17.6 percent a year ago. Juniper projected second quarter revenue of $1.13 billion to $1.18 billion with non-GAAP earnings per share between 31 cents a share and 34 cents a share. Wall Street was looking for earnings of 36 cents a share on revenue of $1.16 billion. Juniper said there was weakness in Japan on tap.

Juniper CEO Kevin Johnson said on a conference call:

While our business saw very limited impact from this tragedy during the March quarter, we believe a measure of caution is warranted as we monitor business conditions in the region. Over the past two years Japan has accounted for approximately 5% to 8% of our revenue. We have a very solid enterprise business there, as well strong positions with leading service providers. Again, very limited impact in the March quarter, but we will continue to assess conditions carefully as we progress through the June quarter.

Riverbed delivers

As expected, Riverbed reported strong first quarter results. The company reported earnings of $13 million, or 8 cents a share, on revenue of $163.6 million, up 45 percent from a year ago. Non-GAAP earnings were 20 cents a share. Riverbed projected second quarter earnings of 21 cents a share on revenue of $171 million to $173 million. Wall Street was expecting earnings of 20 cents a share on revenue of $170 million.

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