Juniper Profit Rises 22%

(RTTNews) - Computer networking gear maker Juniper Networks Inc. (JNPR) said Tuesday after the markets closed that its first quarter profit rose 22% from last year, helped by higher revenue and a hefty gain from the sale of minority equity investments.

The company's quarterly earnings per share, excluding items, came in line with analysts' expectations, but did its quarterly revenue topped analysts' forecast. At the same time, the company gave an upbeat earnings forecast for the current quarter.

"I am pleased with our first quarter results, which reflect our seventh consecutive quarter of year-over-year revenue growth and our fifth consecutive quarter of earnings growth," said Robyn Denholm, chief financial and operations officer of Juniper Networks.

Juniper shares are currently losing 1.51% in after hours trading after closing the day's regular trading session at $25.89, up 47 cents or 1.85%. The shares trade in a 52-week range of $15.62 to $28.75.

The Sunnyvale, California-based company reported reported reported net income for the first quarter of $110.6 million or $0.22 per share, compared to $91.0 million or $0.18 per share for the year-ago quarter.

Excluding items, adjusted net income for the first quarter was $142.6 million or $0.29 per share, compared to $123.8 million or $0.24 per share in the prior year quarter.

On average, 34 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $0.29 per share for the first quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Net revenues for the first quarter rose 10% to $1.17 billion from $1.06 billion in the same quarter last year. First quarter revenue fell 8% sequentially. Thirty-four analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $1.15 billion for the first quarter.

For the first quarter, the company's Americas revenue increased 15%, while Europe, Middle East, and Africa revenue grew 2% and Asia Pacific revenue rose 9% from a year earlier.

Looking forward to the second quarter, the company forecasts revenue of $1.20 billion to $1.23 billion and adjusted earnings of $0.36 to $0.39 per share. Analysts currently expect the company to earn $0.36 per share on revenue of $1.21 billion for the second quarter.

Earlier this month, Juniper said that it expects to reduce its global workforce by about 6% and consolidate its facilities, as part of efforts to streamline its business structure and focus on high-growth segments under the company's integrated operating plan.

In late February, Juniper came out with an integrated operating plan to refocus on key innovations as demand for High-IQ Networks and best-in-class cloud environments gain momentum. The company also committed to return at least $3 billion to shareholders over the next three years through share repurchases and dividends. The company's board authorized $2 billion in share buyback to be executed through the end of the first quarter of 2015, including a $1.2 billion accelerated repurchase program. Juniper will also initiate a quarterly cash dividend of $0.10 per common share in the third quarter of 2014, with the expectation to increase the dividend over time.

Juniper's announcement came as hedge fund Elliott Management, which owns a 6.2% stake in the company, was pressing for a three-pronged shareholder value plan, comprising cost cuts, return of cash to shareholders and optimization of the company's product portfolio.