Juniper Networks Q4 2011 Update: Earnings & Revenue Expectations Lowered

January 10. 2012

Juniper Networks provided preliminary results for the quarter ended December 31, 2011. Financial results for the fourth quarter of 2011, which are based on preliminary estimates and subject to change, are now expected to be below the company's outlook issued on October 24, 2011.

Revenue is now expected to be in the range of $1,110 to $1,120 million, compared to the company's prior expectation of $1,160 to $1,220 million. Non-GAAP EPS is now expected to be in the range of $0.26 to $0.28 per diluted share, compared to the company's prior expectation of $0.32 to $0.36.

Wall Street was anticipating fourth-quarter earnings of 33 cents per share on revenue of $1.18 billion.

Non-GAAP operating margin is expected to be below the company's prior outlook of 21% to 23% due to lower than expected Non-GAAP gross margins which were impacted by reduced revenue.

Although the company's results are not yet finalized, fourth quarter performance is below the company's previous outlook primarily due to weaker than expected router demand from service providers. While this was not limited to any single geography, a significant portion of the impact was from US service providers. In addition, product book-to-bill was approximately 1.

"2011 was a record year of revenue for Juniper, even though our fourth quarter revenue was weaker than expected due to service provider demand," said Kevin Johnson, chief executive officer of Juniper Networks. "We remain committed to our strategy of innovation in high-performance networking as we continue to manage costs and drive excellence in execution."

The above information is preliminary and subject to Juniper Networks normal quarter-end accounting review and a full fiscal year audit by the company's independent registered public accounting firm. As such, corresponding GAAP financial information is not yet available, but will be included when the company releases its financial results for Q4 2011.

The company will provide full preliminary Q4 2011 financial results and commentary about these results on January 26, 2012 after the close of the market.