Opsware (NASDAQ:OPSW), Marc Andreessen's current hangout, has been making quite the comeback recently. The company he founded in 1999 with several ex-Netscapers was on the cusp of profitability at the end of Q1, and yesterday's second-quarter earnings report was expected to finally show a profit.
The IT automation software maker did have $1 million in earnings -- before $4.7 million in non-cash charges relating to acquisitions and stock options expense. Also, revenue was up 78% year over year to $25.1 million, accelerating from last quarter's 74% growth. The company is not slowing down, raising full-year revenue estimates to $102 million. To put a cherry on top, management boasted that it grew eight times faster than IBM (NYSE:IBM), the current market leader, and gained more than 10 points of market share, closing more than half the market-share gap between the two companies.
Still, there was some bad news -- the departure of now ex-CFO Sharlene Abrams after the SEC gave her a Wells Notice. This indicates that the SEC intends to press charges against Ms. Abrams for her former role as CFO at Mercury Interactive, with regards to stock-option practices and end-of-quarter shipments timing.
However, the good news outshines the bad this time around. Opsware software allows large firms like General Electric (NYSE:GE) and Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO) to automate many tedious functions, like patching and backing up information for their large data centers. The Cisco deal, signed earlier this year, has the potential to eventually replace EDS (NYSE:EDS) and its estimated $20 million in annual revenues as Opsware's anchor client. What's more, the company signed a $10 million deal ($5 million cash upfront, $5 million based on performance) to acquire Creekpath Systems. This deal looks smart and relatively cheap, since Creekpath provides key technology in storage automation, and allows the combined entity to offer a one-stop solution in storage, servers, and network automation.
And Marc Andreessen? While not too much in demand on the Wall Street party scene anymore, he is still being creative at Opsware, even starting a new company last year called Ning, which offers an online platform for social applications.
While Opsware is back in the black (at least on a non-GAAP, cash perspective), its shares still look pricey, with a forward P/E in the triple digits and a forward price-to-sales ratio of more than 6. Still, shareholders should be more than satisfied with this quarter.
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Fool contributor Stephen Ellis does not own shares in any companies mentioned. You can see his holdings for yourself . The Motley Fool has a completed patched disclosure policy.
