Juniper's Q1 Forecast Disappoints

Juniper Networks Inc. (NYSE: JNPR) on Thursday reported fourth-quarter profits of $96.2 million, or 18 cents per share, reflecting the weak carrier spending that the company had talked about earlier. (See Juniper's Q4 Got Even Worse.)

The net income for the quarter, which ended Dec. 31, amounts to 18 cents per share, down from the 35 cents Juniper reported a year ago. Fourth-quarter revenues of $1.12 billion were down from year-ago revenues of $1.19 billion.

Non-GAAP net income of 28 cents per share matched analysts expectations, as tallied by Reuters.

Juniper threw one new surprise at analysts: an unexpectedly weak forecast for its first quarter, which ends in March. Revenues will be $960 million to $990 million, the company said, missing analysts' consensus prediction of $1.1 billion. And Juniper's expected non-GAAP net income of 11 to 14 cents is way below the 26 cents analysts were expecting.

Juniper shares were down $1.43 (6.4%) in early after-hours trading.

— Craig Matsumoto, West Coast Editor, Light Reading