Sun's Fourth-Quarter Outlook Shines

SAN FRANCISCO - Shares of Sun Microsystems(JAVA Quote) soared in after-hours trading after the company forecast fourth-quarter results above Street expectations.

Sun said it expects net income for the quarter, including a restructuring charge of $100 million, to range from 5 cents a share to 15 cents a share.

Excluding charges, Sun expects to report net income ranging from 25 cents a share to 35 cents a share. Last year, during the same quarter, Sun reported a loss of 4 cents a share.

Revenue for the quarter is likely to be in the range of $3.72 billion to $3.8 billion, compared with revenue of $3.83 billion the year-ago quarter.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters are expecting earnings of 20 cents a share on revenue of $3.21 billion.

Shares of Sun Microsystems were up 70 cents, or 8%, to $9.50 in extended trading.

Total gross margin as a percent of revenues for the quarter is expected to be in the range of 44% to 45%.

Last month, Sun revamped its sales force, brought in a new sales chief and created a new group to accelerate business in developing countries.

As part of the change, Don Grantham, Sun's sales chief since 2006 left the company. Grantham became the second high-ranking executive to leave Sun recently. In March, David Yen, head of Sun's chip division left for Juniper Networks(JNPR Quote).