VMware Inc. Earnings: Streak of Four Straight Profit Increases SNAPPED

VMware Inc. (NYSE:VMW) reported its results for the second quarter. VMWare is a provider of virtual infrastructure software solutions from the desktop to the data center. It works with more than 1,300 technology partners, including leading server, microprocessor, storage, networking and software vendors.

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VMware Inc. Earnings Cheat Sheet

Results: Net income for the computer software fell to $191.7 million (44 cents per share) vs. $220.2 million (51 cents per share) a year earlier. This is a decline of 12.9% from the year-earlier quarter.

Revenue: Rose 21.9% to $1.12 billion from the year-earlier quarter.

Actual vs. Wall St. Expectations: VMware Inc. fell short of the mean analyst estimate of 48 cents per share. Analysts were expecting revenue of $1.12 billion.

Quoting Management: “VMware has led the server virtualization revolution, and we have the opportunity to do the same in datacenter and cloud networking,” said Paul Maritz, chief executive officer, VMware. “The acquisition of Nicira adds to our portfolio of networking assets and positions VMware to be the industry leader in software-defined networking.”

Key Stats:

The company has seen double-digit year-over-year percentage revenue growth for the past five quarters. Over that span, the company has averaged growth of 28.5%, with the biggest boost coming in the second quarter of the last fiscal year when revenue rose 36.7% from the year earlier quarter.

Last quarter’s profit decrease ends a four-quarter streak of profit increases. In the first quarter, net income rose 52.2% from the year earlier, while the figure increased 67.2% in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year, more than twofold in the third quarter of the last fiscal year and more than twofold in the second quarter of the last fiscal year.

The company fell short of forecasts after beating estimates in the previous two quarters. In the first quarter, it topped the mark by 5 cents, and in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year, it was ahead by 9 cents.

Looking Forward: The average estimate for the third quarter is steady at 46 cents a share. For the fiscal year, the average estimate has moved up from $1.98 a share to $1.99 over the last thirty days.

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(Company fundamentals provided by Xignite Financials. Earnings estimates provided by Zacks)

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