VMW had a blowout first quarter.
The press release:
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UPDATE 1-VMware beats forecasts, shares jump
Tue Apr 19, 2011 4:22pm EDT
* Q1 EPS ex-items 48 cents vs Wall Street view 42 cents
* Q1 revenue up 33 pct to $844 mln
* Sees operating margin higher this year
* Shares jump 10 pct after hours
SEATTLE, April 19 (Reuters) - VMware Inc (VMW.N) reported a better-than-expected 33 percent jump in sales of its software on Tuesday and indicated profit margins would rise this year from last year, helping its shares rise 10 percent after hours.
The company, which vies with Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) and Oracle Corp (ORCL.O) in the fast-growing field of computer virtualization, reported first-quarter net profit of $125.8 million, or 29 cents per share, compared with $78.4 million, or 19 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter.
Excluding some one-time items, it reported earnings of 48 cents per share. Wall Street expected 42 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Revenue rose 33 percent to $844 million, above analysts' average forecast of $815 million.
For the second quarter it forecast sales of $860 million to $880 million, well above the $840 million expected by analysts.
The company also said it expected its non-GAAP operating margin for 2011 to "expand slightly" from 2010.
The market for server virtualization software -- which allows users to access information and create a 'virtual' operating system on any computer -- is one of the tech industry's fastest-growing areas.
Shares of VMware, which is majority-owned by data storage equipment maker EMC Corp (EMC.N), rose to $94.43 in extended trade, after closing at $85.97 on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Bill Rigby, editing by Bernard Orr)
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