NetApp Shares Trade in Tight Range After Beating on Earnings, Missing on Revenues

reported its fourth quarter 2014 earnings after the close Thursday, with earnings per share coming in at $0.84, beating analyst expectations of $0.79, while revenues came in at $1.65 billion, missing consensus estimates of $1.67 billion. Other highlights from the report include a quarterly dividend boost to $0.165 per share from $0.15 per share. The company released some guidance for the first quarter of its 2015 fiscal year, guiding earnings per share in a range of $0.53 to $0.58, below consensus estimates of $0.62, while guiding revenues in a range of $1.42 billion to $1.52 billion, once again below analyst estimates, which were at $1.52 billion. Somewhat concerning to the street was a decrease in product sales of 8.3 percent to $1.04 billion. Net income for the quarter got a boost to $197 million versus $173.8 million in the same quarter in 2013. Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the quarter came in at $2.291 billion, well below the same quarter in 2013 where they came in at $3.277 billion. Following the report, shares dipped slightly in the post-market, falling 0.38 percent to $34.36.