Tuesday, May 22, 6:58 PM
The application delivery controller (ADC) market grew 5% Q/Q in seasonally weak Q1, according to Dell'Oro. Especially positive for market leader F5 (FFIV) is Dell O'ro's estimate that sales of physical high-end ADCs - a market F5 dominates - rose 14%. Less positive is the fact the budding market for virtual (i.e. software-based) ADCs grew 167% - while F5 sells virtual ADCs, they risk cannibalizing hardware sales. Citrix Systems (CTXS) and Cisco (CSCO) also participate in the ADC market. (previous)
Comment![Tech]
Tuesday, May 22, 2:21 PMFast-growing enterprise videoconferencing firm Vidyo is set to close a $97M funding round that includes an investment from Juniper (JNPR). Vidyo's solutions, which use a combo of routing technology and proprietary software, have been causing headaches for market leaders Cisco (CSCO) and Polycom (PLCM), each of whom recently reported soft videoconferencing gear sales (I, II). Juniper may be interested in integrating Vidyo's tech with its own networking hardware.
Comment![Tech]
Tuesday, May 22, 12:46 PM
Alcatel-Lucent (ALU +0.7%) has released its 7950 XRS line, its first products for a lucrative core router market currently dominated by Cisco (CSCO) and Juniper (JNPR). The 7950 line offers very high densities and runs on Alcatel's hyped FP3 network processor, which can handle 400 Gbps transmission speeds. Carrier inertia and comfort with Cisco and Juniper's software will be major challenges for Alcatel, but Nomura is optimistic the company can carve a niche.
1 Comment[Tech]
Friday, May 18, 2:23 PM
Aruba Networks (ARUN -7.3%) makes new 52-week lows after posting in-line FQ3 results and guiding on its earnings call for FQ4 revenue of $136M-$138M and EPS of $0.16-$0.17 (consensus is at $138.9M and $0.17. Fellow Wi-Fi equipment vendors Ubiquiti Networks (UBNT -7.6%) and NetGear (NTGR -4.1%) are also getting hit. Auriga (Buy) notes weak Euro demand is having an impact - archrival Cisco (CSCO) reported the same, but its wireless sales were also healthy. (also)
Comment![Tech, Earnings, On the Move]
Thursday, May 17, 6:10 PM
Big U.S. multinationals are holding at least 60% of their cash offshore - ~$588B - with some keeping nearly all of their corporate cash balances in foreign accounts, according to a J.P. Morgan study. Apple (AAPL) had the most at $74B, or 67% of its total cash holdings; as a percentage of total cash, MSFT, CSCO and HPQ held 89% or more of their cash overseas.
19 Comments[U.S. Economy, Tech]
Wednesday, May 16, 12:28 PM
A week after diving on account of poor guidance and downbeat commentary, Cisco (CSCO +0.5%) receives an upgrade to Overweight from Barclays' Jeff Kvaal, who argues the company's healthy book-to-bill and low DSOs suggest business isn't as bad as it seems. Kvaal also says checks indicate demand is stable, and thinks Cisco's server sales (3% of FQ3 revenue) can offset networking weakness. Future storage products are also seen as a possibility. (previous)
Comment![Tech, Quick Ideas]
Wednesday, May 16, 10:32 AM
Nomura's Stuart Jeffrey thinks Alcatel-Lucent's (ALU +3.8%) May 22 core router announcement could be a game-changer. Alcatel's success in the edge router market (it has a 24% share) suggests it has a shot at disrupting Cisco (CSCO) and Juniper's (JNPR) near-duopoly in the core, Jeffrey argues, and a 10%-20% share would result in a 6%-14% 2014 operating income boost. Alcatel's carrier switch/router business was a bright spot in a dismal Q1, growing 23.5% Y/Y.
Comment![Tech, Quick Ideas]
Tuesday, May 15, 7:09 PM
Steven Cohen's SAC Capital Advisors sold off more than 1M shares of Apple (AAPL) in Q1, and increased stakes in several other techs, including Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Cisco (CSCO), Oracle (ORCL) and Hewlett-Packard (HPQ). The firm also cut is holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) and sold off sizable chunks of ExxonMobil (XOM) and Pfizer (PFE).
16 Comments[Tech, Energy, Commodities]
Tuesday, May 15, 5:29 PM
Ahead of his successful campaign to get rid of Scott Thompson and win board seats, Dan Loeb boosted his stake in Yahoo (YHOO). Loeb's Third Point LLC held 70.5M Yahoo shares at the end of Q1, compared with 56M shares and 10M calls at the end of Q4. Third Point also established new positions in AAPL, CSCO, and GOOG, and liquidated its positions in SNDK and WFR. (13-F)
Comment![Tech]
Monday, May 14, 4:00 PM
Cisco (CSCO) shareholders hoping John Chambers will go are out of luck, a former exec tells BI. Chambers gets rid of anyone who challenges him, the exec claims, and Cisco's board consists of hand-picked Chambers selections such as ex-Yahoos Carol Bartz and Jerry Yang. In spite of huge stock buybacks, Cisco shares have been range-bound for over 8 years.
3 Comments[Tech]
Thursday, May 10, 10:33 AM
As Cisco (CSCO -9%) disappears following weak earnings guidance and downbeat comments last night, one blogger suggests, "you could do worse." The earnings and free cash flow yields are near highs seen at the 2009 bear market low, with price-to-book tripping along close to an all-time low.
2 Comments[Tech]
Wednesday, May 9, 5:15 PM
More on Cisco's call: Commentary is downbeat, with Cisco noting weak Euro and public sector spending. Service provider orders +5% Y/Y, but enterprise orders -1%. Longer sales cycles and smaller deal sizes are being seen. FQ3 switch sales +5%, but router and collaboration (VoIP, telepresence, etc.) sales were flat. Asia-Pac is an area of strength, but China orders -8% Y/Y. Wireless and servers are growing quickly, but are still only 6% of sales. CSCO -9.2% AH. (more) (webcast)
10 Comments[Tech, Earnings]
Wednesday, May 9, 5:05 PM
Cisco (CSCO) guides on its FQ3 earnings call (webcast) for 2%-5% FQ4 revenue growth and EPS of $0.44-$0.46, below a consensus of 7.1% growth and EPS of $0.49. CSCO -8.1% AH. JNPR -2.4%. JDSU -1.9%. FFIV -1.4%. RVBD -1.5%.
5 Comments[Tech, Earnings, On the Move]
Wednesday, May 9, 4:22 PM
More on Cisco's FQ3: Revenue growth roughly flat from FQ2. Operating cash flow was flat Y/Y at $3B in spite of 10.9% net income growth. 27M shares repurchased for $550M (26M in FQ2). Gross margin was 63%, slightly above expectations but down 90 bps Y/Y. Operating expenses fell 1.3% Y/Y thanks to restructuring, but that's a smaller decline than last quarter. Earnings call starts at 4:30 PM ET (webcast). CSCO -2.1% AH. (PR)
Comment![Tech, Earnings]
Wednesday, May 9, 4:07 PMCisco Systems (CSCO): FQ3 EPS of $0.48 beats by $0.01. Revenue of $11.59B (+6.6% Y/Y) beats by $20M. Shares +0.8% AH. (PR)
Comment![Tech, Earnings]
