What happened
Shares of F5 Networks (FFIV 0.38%) have jumped today, up by 9% as of 1:30 p.m. EDT, after the company reported fiscal second-quarter earnings. The network application delivery specialist beat expectations and offered strong guidance for the next quarter.
So what
Revenue in fiscal Q2 increased 7% to $583.4 million, topping the consensus estimate of $564 million. That led to adjusted net income of $135.9 million, or $2.23 per share, easily beating the $1.99 per share in adjusted profits that analysts were modeling for.
Image source: F5 Networks.
The COVID-19 pandemic is having mixed impacts on the tech company, boosting adoption of F5's services for some clients while other customers cut back on spending. On the conference call with analysts, CEO Francois Locoh-Donou said the outbreak had a "net neutral impact" during the quarter.
"During our second quarter, we saw continued rapid acceptance of our software and subscription-based offerings as enterprises and service provider customers worldwide look to F5 to ensure consistent application access, delivery and security," Locoh-Donou said in a statement. "In the last month of the quarter, we also saw increased demand for capacity as customers looked to quickly and, in some cases, massively scale remote access capabilities to keep their employees safe and their businesses running."
Now what
In terms of guidance, F5 expects revenue in the fiscal third quarter to be in the range of $555 million to $585 million, putting the midpoint comfortably above the consensus of $551.2 million. Adjusted earnings per share are forecast at $1.91 to $2.13, compared to analysts' expectation of $1.87 per share.
