VMware Q4 2009: Revenue Up 18% - EPS Beats by 5 Cents - Guides Up

January 26, 2010

VMware reported financial results for the fourth quarter and full year 2009. The company expects  2010 revenue growth to beat Wall Street expectations.

VMware gave revenue guidance indicating a rise between 21 percent and 26 percent this year, after growing just 8 percent in 2009. VMware expects revenue at $2.45 billion to $2.55 billion, above the $2.28 billion average Wall Street was looking for.

“The quarter’s strong performance, anchored by demand for vSphere , signals that virtualization is a key technology for customers who need to save money today, yet invest in a strategy that is central to the emerging cloud computing model,” said Paul Maritz, president and chief executive officer. “We believe that VMware is well positioned to help take our customers on this evolutionary path forward, and our strategy is to expand our portfolio to better serve our customers who are looking to remove complexity from IT.”

“We are pleased with our solid fourth quarter results driven by pent up customer demand and our successful upgrade promotion to Enterprise Plus,” said Mark Peek, chief financial officer. “While the economy is slowly recovering, we have improved near-term visibility as customers move forward with their IT investments. We are planning first quarter revenues to be in the range of $580 and $600 million, an increase of 23% to 28% from the first quarter 2009. We expect annual 2010 revenue to be in the range of $2.45 and $2.55 billion, an increase of 21% to 26% from 2009.”

Q4 profit, excluding items, was 31 cents a share, beating the average analyst forecast of 26 cents. Revenue was up 18 percent to $608 million, more than average analyst forecast of $554 million.