Source: NetApp.
Shares of data storage specialist NetApp (NTAP 3.68%) rose as much as 1.9% in Wednesday's after-hours trading. Just after the closing bell, the company reported results for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2014. Financial data in historical context were reported in a separate document.
Analysts were looking for fourth-quarter sales near $1.67 billion, filtering down to $0.79 of adjusted earnings per share.
NetApp delivered non-GAAP earnings of $0.84 per share on $1.65 billion in net revenues. These figures represent year-over-year earnings growth of 22%, while sales fell 3.9%.
Looking ahead, NetApp presented guidance for the first quarter of 2015. Sales are expected to decline by roughly 3% year-over-year while earnings should rise by about 4%. Both of these figures are below the current Street view.
In other news, NetApp's board of directors announced a regular dividend of $0.165 per share, payable on July 22 to shareholders of record as of July 10. That's a 10% increase to a dividend policy that was started a full year ago.
"NetApp saw market share gains and delivered a solid operational performance in fiscal year 2014, highlighted by margin expansion and strong cash generation," said NetApp CEO Tom Georgens in a prepared statement. "With solutions like clustered Data ONTAP, our broad flash portfolio and differentiated approach to the cloud, customers are solving the challenges of today, with innovative solutions that pave the way for the future."
