Juniper Tests Wall Street's Growth Gab

That said, Juniper itself doesn't seem apt to jump on the second-half rally story. In July, the company forecast sequential sales in the third quarter. And Wall Street analysts call for a near repeat of Juniper's second quarter, amounting to a 3-cent profit on $165 million in revenue, according to a Multex tally.

Notably, a flat quarter would halt Juniper's streak of three sequential revenue improvements, a run that in itself was unusual in the growth-starved telecom business.

While summer sales are typically light, not all analysts are willing to believe Juniper can't best its second-quarter revenue level. Kamman expects $168 million, while others like C.E. Unterberg Towbin's Mark Sue are looking for $170 million. And then there's Lehman Brothers' Tim Luke, who believes the top line could be as high as $175 million -- a 6% increase over the previous quarter.

Curiously, the $175 million figure is about the same as the whisper number. CIBC's Kamman says making or beating that number matters for about half a day, and mostly to the stock traders. He notes that Juniper shares have risen 24% since the last earnings report.

And so, even the bullish Kamman predicts Juniper will stick to plan and stay cautious in discussing its outlook. "They won't be waving a lot of flags," says Kamman.