UPDATE1 -Blue Coat posts quarterly profit, raises outlook
Thu Jun 2, 2005 05:42 PM ET
(Adds outlook, analyst expectations, and details)
SAN FRANCISCO, June 2 (Reuters) - Blue Coat Systems Inc. (BCSI.O: Quote, Profile, Research) on Thursday reported a fourth-quarter profit that doubled from a year earlier on robust demand for software that protects against the invasive Internet threat known as spyware.
Blue Coat, whose stock rose 19 percent in after-hours trade, also gave an earnings outlook above Wall Street expectations.
Fourth-quarter net income rose to $2.8 million, or 21 cents per share, from $1.4 million, or 11 cents a share, a year earlier, the Sunnyvale, California-based company said.
The earnings gained $100,000 from the reversal of restructuring reserves and a benefit of about $700,000 from the reversal of stock compensation expense recorded in the third quarter.
Fourth-quarter revenue rose to $28.4 million from $21.1 million as the company signed on 300 new customers in the quarter.
Blue Coat reported fourth-quarter earnings, excluding items, of 17 cents per share.
On that basis, analysts were expecting profit of 17 cents per share on revenues of $28.4 million, according to Reuters Estimates.
For the first quarter of its fiscal 2006 year, Blue Coat forecast sales growth of 12 percent to 15 percent from the fourth quarter, and earnings, excluding items, of 17 cents to 22 cents per share.
On that basis, analysts were expecting first quarter earnings of 13 cents per share.
Spyware, a growing Internet threat for the past two years, comes in a variety of flavors, including ones that secretly monitor a computer user's Web habits and record keystrokes to steal credit data and other personal information.
The U.S. House of Representatives in late May voted to establish new penalties for purveyors of spyware.
Blue Coat shares rose to $23.65 after hours from its Nasdaq close of $19.95.
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