todays wsj journal "slowdown.. However,,,
One of Cisco's smaller but fast-growing rivals, Juniper Networks Inc., appears
poised to meet analysts' expectations. The Sunnyvale, Calif., maker of Internet
core routers hasn't issued any profit warnings, and is scheduled to release
results Tuesday.
Juniper will report earnings of 18 cents a share for the fourth quarter, up from
two cents a year earlier, estimates Martin Pyykkonen, analyst with C.E.
Unterberg Towbin, matching the consensus. Revenue should soar to $269.6
million from $45.4 million last year, he said.
Mr. Pyykkonen doesn't believe the telecom capital-spending slowdown has
affected Juniper because even as service providers trim budgets, they are
shifting more money to Internet-protocol, or IP, equipment, and away from
traditional voice-network gear.
Juniper has gained ground on Cisco, though it remains a niche player. For the
third quarter, Juniper's share of the Internet core router market rose to 30%
from 22.4% the previous quarter, while Cisco's share fell to 69% from 75.4%.
Juniper has a leg up on Cisco because it sells the fastest core router that can
process information on the fastest optical networks, known as OC-192. Cisco
plans to introduce a competing product soon.
"They beat Cisco to the punch of having an OC-192 product on the market
faster," said Mr. Pyykkonen. Cisco's eventual introduction of a similar product
"might mitigate some of Juniper's market share gains going forward," he added. |
