Juniper Networks, Inc. JNPR reported relatively healthy third-quarter 2024 results, with both bottom and top lines beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate. However, the company recorded lower revenues year over year, owing to sluggish demand for Wide Area Networking, Campus and Branch solutions.
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Strong growth in cloud orders, backed by rising investment in front and back-end AI networking and growing demand for Mist systems, partially cushioned the top line.
Net Income of Juniper
On a GAAP basis, net income in the third quarter was $92.6 million or 28 cents per share compared with $76.1 million or 24 cents per share in the prior-year quarter. The 22% year-over-year growth was mainly driven by lower operating expenses.
Non-GAAP net income was $159.7 million or 48 cents per share compared with respective figures of $193.9 million or 60 cents per share in the prior-year period. The bottom line beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 4 cents.
Juniper Networks, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Juniper Networks, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Juniper Networks, Inc. Quote
Revenues of Juniper
Quarterly revenues were $1.33 billion, down from $1.39 billion in the year-ago quarter, primarily due to softness in Service Provider verticals and continued digestion of previously placed orders by clients. Annual recurring revenues from renewable contracts for software licenses, software support and maintenance and SAAS was $452 million, up 26% year over year. The top line beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.26 billion.
Product revenues were $817 million, down 9% year over year. Service revenues totaled $514 million, up 3% year over year, backed by strong sales of software support, SaaS and hardware support contracts.
By vertical, Cloud revenues improved to $349.6 million from $269.6 million in the year-ago quarter. Revenues from this segment surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $265.62 million. This year-over-year decrease was attributable to robust order growth from customers backed by growing investment in AI initiatives. The segment is witnessing healthy traction in the Americas and Asia-Pacific region.
Revenues from Service Provider declined to $389 million, down 7.1% from $418.8 million reported in the prior-year period. This fall was due to a slowdown across all customer solutions. However, net sales beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $383.78 million.
Net sales from Enterprise were $592.4 million, down 16.5% year over year, owing to weakness in Wide Area Networking and Campus and Branch solutions. The segment is witnessing healthy demand in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region. Increases in Hardware Maintenance and Professional Services partially cushioned the net sales. The figure missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $631.19 million.
By customer solution, Wide Area Networking revenues amounted to $363.2 million, down 16.7% year over year. Net sales from Campus and Branch were $319.3 million, down 16.5% year over year. Revenues from Data Center were $244.6 million, up 43.9% year over year. Hardware Maintenance and Professional Services reported $403.9 million in revenues, down 1.3% year over year.
By region, revenues from the Americas rose to $844.1 million from $836.5 million in the year-ago quarter. Revenues from Europe, the Middle East and Africa declined to $302.1 million from $345.4 million in the prior-year quarter. In the Asia Pacific, net sales were down 14.4% year over year to $184.8 million.
Other Details of JNPR
Non-GAAP Gross profit totaled $791.1 million compared with $832.3 million in the year-ago quarter. Non-GAAP gross margin slightly declined to 59.4% from 59.5% in the prior-year quarter. Non-GAAP operating margin decreased to 15% from 17.5% reported in the year-ago quarter.
JNPR's Cash Flow & Liquidity
In the third quarter of 2024, Juniper generated $192 million cash in operations compared with $329.2 million cash generation in the prior-year quarter.
As of Sept. 30, 2024, the company had $1.06 billion in cash and cash equivalents with $1.63 billion of long-term debt.
Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider
Juniper currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Arista Networks, Inc. ANET carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
In the last reported quarter, ANET delivered an earnings surprise of 8.25%. It provides cloud networking solutions for data centers and cloud computing environments. The company offers 10/25/40/50/100 gigabit Ethernet switches and routers optimized for next-generation data center networks.
Ubiquiti Inc. UI currently sports a Zacks Rank of 1. The company offers a comprehensive portfolio of networking products and solutions for service providers and enterprises.
UI's excellent global business model, which is flexible and adaptable to evolving market changes, helps it overcome challenges and maximize growth. The company's effective management of its strong global network of more than 100 distributors and master resellers improved UI's visibility for future demand and inventory management techniques.
Workday Inc. WDAY carries a Zacks Rank #2 at present. In the last reported quarter, the company delivered an earnings surprise of 7.36%.
WDAY is a leading provider of enterprise-level software solutions for financial management and human resource domains. The company's cloud-based platform combines finance and HR in a single system, making it easier for organizations to provide analytical insights and decision support.
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