Juniper’s Q2 Barely Beats The Street

Next-gen IP infrastructure systems provider Juniper Networks Inc. said its pro-forma net income for the second quarter came in at $29.3 million or $0.09 per share, down slightly from $28.6 million or $0.08 per share reported in last year’s second quarter.

Wall Street analysts had expected to report a pro-forma profit of $0.08 a share for the most-recent quarter, according to a consensus of experts surveyed by First Call/Thomson Financial.

Net revenues for the second quarter were $202.2 million, compared with $113.0 million for the same period last year, an increase of 79%.

“The second quarter represents an example of our priorities during these times — customer growth, financial discipline, and continued investment in innovation,” said Scott Kriens, Juniper chairman and chief executive officer (CEO), in a statement. “We will continue to use our proven abilities in focus and execution to protect these principles.”

Early last month, Juniper said it would cut its payroll by 8 percent to 9 percent. At the time, the company also reduced its revenue expectations to a range of $200 million to $210 million, as compared to its previous forecast of $300 million to $330 million.

“Our revised expectations are a result of a challenging service provider and global carrier business environment, brought about by a capacity absorption cycle taking place currently throughout the industry,” Juniper said in the early-June statement.

Juniper also said it expected pro-forma earnings-per-share to be approximately $0.08 to $0.09. Before the June announcement, analysts had expected Juniper to report a profit of $0.24 per share.

The company’s actual net loss for the second quarter, which includes amortization of goodwill and other purchased intangibles of $12.3 million, amortization of deferred compensation of $18.8 million, a restructuring charge of $12.3 million and write-downs in equity investments totaling $32.6 million, was $37.1 million or $0.12 per share, compared with net income of $19.6 million or $0.06 per share in the second quarter of 2000.

Earlier today, Juniper Networks said it had signed 2 deals in regards to its M-series of Internet backbone routers. A deal with EPIK Communications Inc., the telecommunications subsidiary of Florida East Coast Industries Inc., saw EPIK buying Juniper Networks’ M160 and M20 Internet backbone routers to run EPIK’s IP-on-Wave OC-192c/STM-64 backbone.

Juniper also said that China Cable Network Company Ltd. (China Cable) will use the M160, M20 and M10 Internet backbone routers in 14 cities throughout China, as the infrastructure supporting delivery of China Cable’s national cable TV backbone network.

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