Juniper Reports 11% Revenue Drop, but No Surprises

Juniper Networks reported a double-digit revenue drop for its first quarter ended March 31, but that number was still better than what Wall Street expected, causing the stock to rise after hours. (See Juniper Reports $1.08B 1Q 2018 Revenue - Down 11% YoY.)

The Leading Lights-nominated company reported a drop in non-GAAP net income of 44% to $99.5 million on revenues of $1.08 billion, a drop of 11%. (See Leading Lights 2018 Finalists: Outstanding Communications Technology Vision).

Juniper shares closed at $24.74 in normal trading, up less than 1%. They climbed slightly in after-hours trading to $24.83.

In the past 12 months, though, competition with Cisco has taken its toll in the eyes of investors. Juniper's shares have lost more than 19% of their value in the past year and Cisco shares have gained more than 30% in the same period.

Rod Hall, an analyst at Goldman Sachs, put a "sell" rating on Juniper's shares Tuesday; the bank cut its price target for Juniper’s stock to $21 from $26 noting that its routing estimates may be too high.

For the current quarter, ending June 30, Juniper said it expects to earn between 41 and 47 cents a share on revenues of $1.175 billion, roughly inline with Wall Street analysts’ estimates of 43 cents a share on revenues of $1.16 billion, according to Seeking Alpha.

— Phil Harvey, US News Editor, Light Reading