Brocade Shares Drop On Weak Forecast

reported upbeat results for its fiscal fourth quarter, but the company issued a weak forecast for the current quarter. The San Jose, California-based company reported quarterly net income of $84.39 million, or $0.20 per share, compared to $83.42 million, or $0.19 per share, in the year-ago quarter. Excluding items, the company's adjusted earnings came in at $0.26 per share. Its revenue rose 4 percent year-over-year to $588.83 million. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.24 per share on revenue of $575 million. SAN product revenue came in flat at $325 million for the quarter, while IP Networking product revenue surged 12 percent year-over-year to $170 million. The company's board declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.045 per share. "Fiscal 2015 was a productive year in which we achieved many significant milestones," said Lloyd Carney, CEO of Brocade. "We delivered annual revenue growth in fiscal 2015, with a year-over-year revenue increase in each fiscal quarter. We grew our non-GAAP EPS by 12% for the fiscal year, delivering more than a dollar per share for the first time. We continued to expand our portfolio of software and hardware products through both technology innovation and strategic acquisitions. Looking forward, these investments create new opportunities for us to continue to grow revenue and EPS in 2016 and beyond." For the first quarter, the company expects earnings of $0.23 to $0.25 per share, on revenue of $550 million to $570 million. However, analysts projected earnings of $0.27 per share on revenue of $584.11 million. Brocade shares dipped 4.96 percent to $9.59 in the after-hours trading session.