Just because there's little mention of record-breaking performance, that doesn't make EMC's (NYSE: EMC) first-quarter earnings any less impressive. The past two quarters have been record-breakers, but the storage specialist still delivered this time around.
As expected, EMC was able to put up its ninth consecutive quarter of double-digit growth in sales and profit growth. Revenue jumped 11% to $5.1 billion, while non-GAAP earnings per share rose by 19% to $0.37. Analysts were expecting slightly more in revenue, although the bottom line registered a small beat.
Non-GAAP gross margin also meaningfully expanded from a year ago, from 60.1% to 63%, while operating margin also put up a healthy gain.
EMC continues to execute on the "triple play," a theme it's been reiterating for quite some time: gaining market share, reinvesting for growth, and boosting earnings in the process. The company thinks it has a good chance of exceeding its full-year financial targets.
Most of EMC's sales continue to be generated domestically, with 52% coming from stateside. The Asia-Pacific and Japan region showed particular strength, increasing 20% to an all-time record high, while Latin America also put up a strong showing with a 20% jump.
Its majority ownership in virtualization specialist VMWare (NYSE: VMW) continues to generate dividends, with revenue from VMWare growing 25%.
Full-year revenue guidance expects the top line to be at least $22 billion this year, with adjusted earnings per share expected to top $1.70. Those predictions are shy of the $22.2 billion in revenue and the $1.75-per-share profit the Street was looking for, which is probably the cause of the selling pressure today. EMC is also planning on repurchasing $700 million of stock throughout the year.
Investors might have been expecting a rosier forecast, especially as rival IBM (NYSE: IBM) raised its own guidance when it reported earlier this week, largely thanks to robust software demand.
It was still a very respectable quarter, and EMC remains poised to capitalize on growing demand for storage driven by the cloud.
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