Crescendo Assets in F5 Kitty - Analyst Blog
August 16 2011 - 2:07PM
Zacks
F5 Networks Inc.
(FFIV) took over certain intellectual property assets of Crescendo
Networks, yesterday. Financial details of the deal were not
divulged.
A relatively new name in the
Application Delivery Controller (ADC) market, Israel-based
Crescendo has specialized in the development of hardware solutions
for application delivery and load balancing. Currently, the company
is going through a liquidation process.
Post completion, F5 will add
certain IP assets into its Traffic Management Operating System
(TMOS), the platform F5 uses for its BIG-IP application delivery
products. The enriched portfolio will enable F5 to better address
the exponential growth in Internet traffic and the rising number of
sophisticated security threats to applications. F5 will also bring
Crescendo’s engineering staff under its umbrella.
F5 expects the purchase to have no
material impact on its fourth quarter results scheduled to be
announced in October.
F5 has remained a key player in the
ADC market for years. Other noteworthy players are Citrix
Inc. (CTXS), Radware
Ltd. (RDWR), Cisco Systems Inc.
(CSCO), Riverbed Technology Inc.
(RVBD) and some other small players. The ADC market has been
consolidating for several years. In 2009, Radware completed the
acquisition of Nortel's Layer 4-7 Application Delivery Business for
$18.0 million. Another recent acquisition specific to ADC
technologies was Riverbed's takeover of Zeus Technology last
month.
F5 has continued to boost its
channel presence and grow revenue with the help of its strong
product portfolio. We expect this recent acquisition to further
bolster its market presence and be accretive to its earnings in the
near term.
F5 Networks delivered impressive
third quarter results, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate on the
bottom line. Better execution and focus on enterprise and service
providers has placed F5 Networks well in the ADC market and helped
it grab share from Cisco. F5 Networks is also keen on expanding its
cloud exposure. Analysts see demand acceleration for F5’s ADCs in
telcos during fiscal 2011 and beyond as soon as Victoria and TMOS
11 come into production.
But management’s commentary
regarding adverse effects of the ongoing financial uncertainty in
Europe keeps us cautious. On the other hand, F5 appears positive
about its North American business and seasonal strength of the U.S.
federal business.
Currently, F5 Networks has a Zacks
#3 Rank, implying a short-term Hold recommendation.
CISCO SYSTEMS (CSCO): Free Stock Analysis Report
CITRIX SYS INC (CTXS): Free Stock Analysis Report
F5 NETWORKS INC (FFIV): Free Stock Analysis Report
RADWARE LTD (RDWR): Free Stock Analysis Report
RIVERBED TECH (RVBD): Free Stock Analysis Report
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