McData Raises Q1 Estimates — Again

For the second time, McData has raised its first-quarter financial estimates on strong demand for its storage area networking components.

The Broomfield, Colo., firm expects revenue of $102 million to $103 milion for the three-month period, compared to earlier projections of $92 million to $97 million.

Earnings will be “at least” 5 cents per share (excluding non-cash charges), better than the previous guidance of between 2 cents and 4 cents per share.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson/First Call predicted earnings per share of 4 cents per share on revenues of $96.5 million. McData’s official results will be announced May 29.

McData’s success is largely due its partner strategy. While it spun out of industry giant EMC , its enterprise hardware, software and services are also available through Hitachi Data Systems, Hewlett-Packard, IBM and StorageTek.

Also during the first quarter, McData expanded its geographic reach with the opening of an office in Beijing to serve customers in China and elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific.

The good news comes three weeks storage giant EMC posted a $35 million profit in its first quarter, due in part, to cost-cutting measures.

The Hopkinton, Mass. storage provider, which pared its workforce by 1,350 last fall to cut costs, said its first quarter results also reflect growth in customer adoption of its new, high-end storage products, such as the Symmetrix DMX system.