NetApp Profit Down, Outlook Weak- Update

(RTTNews) - Data-storage systems maker NetApp Inc. (NTAP), Wednesday reported a drop in profit for the third quarter, as revenues declined hurt largely by poor demand for its data storage products. Moving ahead, the company detailed a weak outlook for the current quarter.

Sunnyvale, California-based NetApp's third-quarter profit dropped to $153 million or $0.52 per share from $177 million or $0.56 per share last year.

Excluding items, adjusted earnings for the quarter dropped to $0.70 per share from $0.75 per share a year ago. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters estimated earnings of $0.68 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

NetApp's revenues for the quarter dropped to $1.39 billion from $1.55 billion last year. Analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $1.45 billion for the quarter.

Product revenues, the biggest contributor to the top line, dropped to $750 million from $929 million last year. Software maintenance revenues rose to $234 million from $226 million, while hardware maintenance revenues increased to $402 million from $396 million last year.

Looking forward to the fourth quarter, the company estimates adjusted earnings of $0.55 to $0.60 per share and revenues of $1.35 billion to $1.50 billion. Analysts currently estimates earnings of $0.73 per share on revenues of $1.51 billion for the quarter.

NTAP closed Wednesday's trading at $23.55, up $0.46 or 1.99%, on the Nasdaq. The stock, however, dropped $0.56 or 2.38% in the after-hours trade.