NetApp Inc (NASDAQ:NTAP) reported on Wednesday beats on both earnings and revenue in its fiscal first quarter 2019 results, powered by stronger results from its data cloud business.
Earnings per share reached US$1.05, more than double the earnings of US$0.47 from the yea-ago level. Revenue hit US$1.47bn, sharply up from US$1.32bn in the same period last year.
CEO George Kurian said in a statement innovations put in place by NetApp led to "new partnerships, products and solutions to help data-driven organizations thrive."
The company's guidance for the fiscal second quarter is for revenue to be in the range of US$1.45bn to US41.55bn.
READ: NetApp stock drops after third quarter disappointment
Azure NetApp Files is now available in public preview, the company said. Jointly developed by Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and NetApp, Azure NetApp Files is a native Azure service powered by NetApp’s leading ONTAP technology and storage expertise.
The Sunnyvale, California, company provides a range of hybrid cloud data services that simplify management of applications and data across cloud and on-premises environments to accelerate digital transformation.
Steady Execution
Analysts at Oppenheimer maintained a Perform rating and US$82.47 price target on NetApp stock.
"Overall, NetApp's executing smoothly with its product initiatives, while positioning itself as a key partner for hybrid cloud needs as it builds out its Data Fabric strategy, Cloud Data Services, and hyperscale partner cloud efforts. We're positive on NetApp's growth strategy and developing TAM (HCI, CDS), though we believe this is already reflected in investor expectations," wrote Oppenheimer analysts George Iwanyc, Vinod Srinivasaraghavan, and Ittai Kidron.
"Maintain Perform, keeping watch on NetApp's cloud initiatives."
The analysts said they expected the company to continue to benefit from "steady execution (operational, sales, strategic product shift) and strong all-flash growth." Longer term, they were positive on NetApp's Data Fabric strategy and expected a growing contribution from its Cloud Data Services.
Shares of NetApp fell 3.9% to US$79.27 in premarket trade Thursday although they were up 0.5% to US$82.90 in after-hours trade after the results.
Contact Rene Pastor at rene.pastor@proactiveinvestors.com
-- Updates with analyst comments, stock quote --