VMware Q1 Earnings Top Expectations

reported upbeat earnings for the first quarter on Tuesday. The Palo Alto, California-based company reported a quarterly profit of $196 million, or $0.45 per share, compared to $199 million, or $0.46 per share, in the year-ago period. Excluding items, the company's profit climbed to $0.86 per share from $0.80 per share. Its revenue surged 11 percent to $1.51 billion. However, analysts were estimating a profit of $0.84 per share on revenue of $1.5 billion. Its revenue from licenses climbed to $576 million from $561 million, while revenue from services surged to $935 million from $799 million. GAAP operating income slipped 9 percent to $218 million for the first quarter, while non-GAAP operating income rose 7 percent year-over-year to $451 million. Operating cash flows were $683 million for the first quarter, while free cash flows were $577 million. As of March 31, 2015, the company had cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments of $7.23 billion. The average estimate among 32 Estimize users was for earnings of $0.87 per share and revenue of $1.51 billion. "We started 2015 with solid Q1 results and one of the most significant product launches in our history, with the announcement of the industry's first unified platform for the hybrid cloud," said Pat Gelsinger, chief executive officer, VMware. VMware shares fell 2.11 percent to $83.60 in the after-hours trading session.