Dow Jones Newswires -- August 14, 2000
Dow Jones Newswires
Network Appliance Beats 1Q Views On Gross Margin Rise
By RICK JURGENS
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
PALO ALTO, Calif. -- Network Appliance Inc. (NTAP) doubled its revenue and net income in
the first fiscal quarter and beat analysts' per-share earnings estimates by a penny.
The Sunnyvale, Calif., maker of data storage eqiupment posted income of $32.3 million, or 9 cents
a share, excluding charges, for the quarter ended July 28. Analysts surveyed by First Call/Thomson
Financial had expected the company would earn 8 cents a share. A year ago Network Appliance
posted net income of $13.5 million, or 4 cents a share, adjusted for two subsequent stock splits.
Including in-process research and development and amortization, net income was $5 million, or a
penny a share. Revenue was $231.2 million, up from $103.3 million a year ago.
Network Appliance Chief Executive Daniel Warmenhoven told Dow Jones Newswires that an
increase in the company's gross margin to 61.3% from 59.8% in the fourth quarter was responsible
for adding the extra penny to Network Appliance's bottom line. The margin got a boost from an
increase in the portion of sales accounted for by software, to 16%, he said.
Warmenhoven said that Network Appliance now has about 7% of the storage appliance market,
and expects to continue to take away market share from computer makers, which comprise eight
of Network Appliance's 10 largest competitors.
New software due later this week will quadruple the storage capacity of the company's high-end
F760 filer appliance, he said. New high-end hardware will be added later in the quarter, he said. |
