Three weeks ago, fellow Fool Eric Jhonsa speculated that F5 Networks
Well, the numbers are in, and they don't tell that gloomy story at all. Non-GAAP earnings jumped 57% year over year on 35% higher revenue, in line with the Street's sales target, and $0.03 above the analyst bar on the bottom line. F5 does significant business in Japan, yet still delivered impressive numbers in a disaster-stricken quarter.
In another sign of grippy business traction, service revenues outpaced product growth. F5 has built enough of a customer list to sign and re-sign support contracts in an exponential fashion. That's the very core of low-cost software business models such as Citrix and Red Hat
F5 isn't the fastest-growing networking company on the market -- that honor goes to optical gear builder CIENA
Eric concluded that F5 might take a while to return to old highs in the $140 area; the last three months have been brutal to this stock. This report brought F5 nearly 9% closer to that level, not counting an after-hours spike to 13.4% gains.
F5 is all about using your networking resources to their maximum potential, a value-added idea that should carry the business over plenty of speed bumps. I'd be surprised if the stock didn't get back to fresh 52-week highs by the third-quarter report, repairing the damage this stock has done to my All-Star CAPS status.