Juniper Networks gains 6% after earnings beat; analysts remain cautious

Juniper Networks (NYSE:) shares rose more than 5.5% in pre-market trading after the company reported better-than-expected results for the third quarter.

Adjusted of 60 cents on revenue of $1.40 billion came in higher than the Street expectations for a profit per share of 55 cents on revenue of $1.39B.

Service revenue soared 12% YoY and helped the company exceed analyst expectations as Product revenue unexpectedly fell 7.2%.

The company’s cloud business saw its sales fall 28% YoY to $269.6 million, missing the average analyst estimate of $286.4M.

“We delivered better than expected Q3 results due to another record quarter in our enterprise business, which represented more than 50% of total company revenue for the first time in the company’s history,” said Juniper’s CEO, Rami Rahim.

“While we are continuing to experience headwinds from our cloud and service provider customers, many of which are still digesting prior purchases, our enterprise momentum remains strong and provides confidence in our future growth prospects.”

For this quarter, the company sees revenue in the range of $1.35-1.45B while adjusted EPS is seen at $0.63, up or down 5 cents. Analysts were looking for a profit per share of 62 cents on revenue of $1.41B.

BofA analysts noted that weak revenue trends are offsetting margin improvement.

“Management’s tone was positive and optimistic, yet we remain cautious as the SP vertical remains challenged and Enterprise benefitted from elevated backlog and will enter a period of tough comps and lower backlog tailwind in FY24, with growth in the next three quarters likely remaining weak,” they said.

UBS analysts cut the price target by $6 to $28 per share as they argue that revenue bottoming in the first half of 2024 is “highly likely,” although the company is still facing “choppy quarters ahead.”

“While negative revisions are not ideal, in this case, we believe the abnormally wide range of outcomes in Cloud and SP over the next 2-3 qtrs makes it prudent. However, the NT choppy outlook keeps us on the sidelines,” they wrote.