NetApp Revenue, Earnings Spike In Q1

NetApp on Wednesday reported very strong first quarter revenue and earnings growth, and said it expects growth to continue going forward.

NetApp's glowing financial report also signaled that it is continuing to be a strong competitor to storage arch-rival EMC, which a couple weeks ago also reported double-digit revenue and triple-digit earnings growth.

NetApp said revenue for its first quarter of fiscal year 2011, which ended July 30, hit $1.14 billion, was up 36 percent compared to the $838 million it reported in the same period a year ago.

The storage vendor also reported earnings of $142 million or 38 cents per share, which was up 173 percent compared to the $52 million, or 15 cents per share, it reported last year.

This compared very well to EMC, which in late July said its first fiscal quarter revenue grew 23 percent over last year to reach $4.02 billion. EMC's earnings grew 108 percent to reach $426.2 million compared to the year before.

Looking forward, NetApp also estimated its revenue for the second fiscal quarter 2011 to be between $1.16 billion to $1.21 billion. This compares to the company's actual second fiscal quarter 2010 revenue of $910 million.

The company also estimated earnings for the current quarter will be between 35 cents and 38 cents per share, compared to the 27 cents per share it reported last year.

"NetApp has begun our fiscal year with great momentum,’ said Tom Georgens, president and CEO, in statement. ’The NetApp value proposition allows customers to implement more flexible and efficient storage infrastructures at a lower cost. Our results indicate we are achieving clear customer preference as IT organizations transform their data centers.’