Bank Of America: Time To Buy Juniper Networks

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In a report published Tuesday, analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch upgraded
Juniper Networks, Inc.
JNPR
from Neutral to Buy. The price target was raised from $27 to $34. The analysts expect the company's core business to return to year-on-year growth later in 2015. Several new product launches and sequential spending growth in the North American carrier segment are expected to drive the upside for the company for the remainder of the year. The new products planned for release this year span almost all the areas of switching core routing, edge, NFV and security. "Additionally, following Juniper's restructuring and share buybacks, operating margins and EPS leverage should be enhanced," the analysts said, while adding that operating margin growth is likely to "begin to stabilize and new products to have ramped in the market." However, Bank of America Merrill Lynch also expressed concern regarding Juniper Networks' execution. "Juniper is evolving with, but not leading the SDN/NFV migration, focusing more on hardware and design innovation over software and services," the analysts stated. With respect to the Switching segment, "Juniper addresses a few market segments, yet lacks strong ties with other players in the ecosystem," Bank of America Merrill Lynch added, while adding that the company will also need to prove that its throughput advantage outweighs the platform approach of other vendors" in the security market.
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Posted In: Analyst ColorUpgradesPrice TargetAnalyst RatingsBank of America Merrill Lynch
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