Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.
What: Shares of Aruba Networks (NASDAQ: ARUN) jumped more than 10% during intraday trading Friday after the company posted better-than-expected fiscal first-quarter financial results.
So what: Quarterly revenue grew 11% year over year to a record $160.9 million, which translated to non-GAAP net income of $18.9 million, or $0.16 per share. By contrast, analysts were looking for adjusted earnings of only $0.14 per share on sales of $157.54 million.
In addition, the company repurchased around 6.4 million shares for roughly $113 million during the quarter, and said it expects Q2 revenue in the range of $165 million to $169 million, with non-GAAP earnings per share of $0.16 to $0.17. Analysts were only modeling Q2 earnings of $0.16 on revenue of $166.19 million.
Now what: Those were solid results any way you slice it, so it should come as no surprise that the report sparked an upgrade from analysts at Needham from hold to buy. In addition, UBS raised its price target for Aruba Networks to $19 per share, while maintaining its neutral rating.
Even so, it's worth considering that the company is still unprofitable on a GAAP basis and, given its moderate growth rates, shares don't look particularly cheap after today's pop around 21 times next year's estimated earnings. As it stands, while I'll admit the stock could have some room to run going forward, I'd prefer waiting for a lower entry point until Aruba can prove it has what it takes to achieve sustained profitability over the long-term.
