NetApp Manages Earnings Beat

NetApp (NTAP)'s profits tumbled in the second quarter despite solid revenue growth.

The results, released Wednesday, underline the challenges posed by an increasingly tough tech spending environment. NetApp did not issue third-quarter revenue guidance, citing the difficulty of forecasting at a time of unusual economic uncertainty.

NetApp reported second-quarter profit of $49 million, or 15 cents a share, compared to $84 million, or 23 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter.

Excluding one-time items, NetApp earned $92 million, or 28 cents a share. Analysts had estimated earnings of 27 cents.

NetApp said revenue increased 15% from a year ago to $912 million, although it came in at the low-end of the company's guidance. During NetApp's fiscal first-quarter earnings call, the firm had pegged second-quarter revenue between $910 million and $940 million. Wall Street had estimated revenue of $904.58 million.

NetApp's shares rose 13 cents, or 1.25%, to $10.52 in after-hours trading.

"NetApp produced solid revenue and earnings results despite a challenging economic environment," said Dan Warmenhoven, the NetApp CEO, in a statement released late Wednesday.

Despite its sales growth, the storage company did not provide a third-quarter revenue forecast. In its statement, NetApp attributed the decision to "recent changes in the macro-economic environment". Analysts had estimated third-quarter revenue of $958.95 million.

NetApp, which competes with EMC (EMC) and HP (HPQ), finds itself in a difficult spending environment. The firm, for example, recently cancelled its 2009 user conference in a clear indication of the impact of the economic slowdown.