DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
Citrix Systems Inc.'s (CTXS) fourth-quarter profit rose 15% as
the virtualization-and-infrastructure company posted revenue gains
across its segments.
However, shares slipped 1.3% to $66.73 in after-hours trading as
the company issued a downbeat full-year and first-quarter earnings
forecast.
For 2012, Citrix sees per-share adjusted earnings of $2.70 to
$2.74, below Wall Street's view of $2.79. It also raised its
revenue guidance for the year, now seeing revenue of $2.49 billion
to $2.51 billion, from its October view of $2.47 billion to $2.48
billion.
For the current quarter, Citrix forecast adjusted earnings of 49
cents to 51 cents a share on revenue of $555 million to $565
million. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters most recently
predicted 56 cents and $561 million, respectively.
Citrix, which improves efficiency by allowing multiple systems
to operate on one computer, has reported stronger results over the
past year on broad-based revenue gains and improved margins. Its
desktop-solutions business, which includes XenApp and XenDesktop,
has had its growth accelerate recently due to the increasing
importance of desktop virtualization.
Competitor VMware Inc. (VMW) on Monday reported its
fourth-quarter earnings rose 67% as the software maker posted
double-digit-percentage increases in services and licenses revenue,
as well as stronger margins.
Citrix reported a profit of $108.7 million, or 58 cents a share,
up from $94.4 million, or 49 cents a share, a year earlier.
Excluding stock-based compensation and other items, earnings rose
to 78 cents a share from 65 cents a share. Revenue rose 17% to
$619.4 million.
In October, the company forecast adjusted earnings of 75 cents
to 76 cents a share on revenue of $610 million to $620 million,
above analysts' estimates at the time.
Operating margin widened to 21.9% from 21.4%.
Revenue from product licenses, or new product purchases, jumped
17%, while revenue from license updates, including annuity revenue
from subscriptions paid when new licenses are purchased, climbed
9.3%. Software-as-a-service revenue was up 21% while
technical-services revenue rose 34%.
-By Nathalie Tadena, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-3287;
nathalie.tadena@dowjones.com