The San Francisco Chronicle (newspaper) ran a nice feature on NetApp:
sfgate.com
Doing One Thing Well: Network Appliance has carved niche in file-server market
Saturday, August 22, 1998
(excerpts follow:)
With the explosive growth of corporate networking and the Internet, companies need fast, easy access to their computerized information. And that simple fact explains the impressive growth of Network Appliance Inc.
NetApp makes high-end storage devices called file servers that can hold vast amounts of data. The devices, which have their own small operating systems, are connected directly to a network or the Internet, making the information in them readily available to computers across the network.
''We built a box to do just one thing, and it goes a hell of a lot faster than a general-purpose server,'' said David Hitz, co-founder and director of systems architecture for NetApp.
''They've really defined a new product category,'' said analyst Phil Rueppel of Bankers Trust New York.
-- A NetApp server was used to store all the special effects for the movie ''Titanic.''
NetApps' file servers can exchange data with any kind of computer, whether it's using Microsoft Windows NT, Unix or Internet protocol. That means a company doesn't have to worry about getting a new file server if it switches from one platform to another.
''That's a very compelling investment protection,'' said analyst Tom Mancino of Pacific Growth Equities. ''It makes the total cost of ownership very low.''
Founded in 1992, NetApp went public in 1995. Since then, its revenues have grown from $14.8 million to $166.2 million in fiscal 1998, and it's on track to haul in $200 million this year.
On Tuesday, NetApp reported the latest in a string of stellar financial results. Earnings for its first quarter increased 69 percent from the previous year to $7.1 million (19 cents a share), while revenues jumped 72 percent to $57.4 million.
Analysts like the company, noting that it's on the ground floor of a market with potential annual sales of $9 billion.
''While the stock is numerically high, considering the company's annual growth rate, it isn't that high,'' said Pacific Growth's Mancino. |
