Brocade a Stitch Closer to Cisco

Foundry founder and CEO Bobby Johnson has not made the move over to Brocade, although the storage specialist recently appointed former Force 10 Networks CEO and Cisco veteran Marc Randall as senior vice president of products. Brocade also hired former Palo Alto Networks founder and CEO Dave Stevens to serve as chief technology officer.

Shares of another storage equipment specialist, Emulex(ELX Quote), also rose Tuesday after the firm pre-announced its second-quarter results late Monday.

Emulex now expects to report second-quarter revenue of between $107 million and $108 million, compared to its initial estimate of between $111 million and $116 million. Analysts had estimated revenue of $113.23 million.

On a non-GAAP basis, Emulex expects earnings of 20 cents a share, down from its initial estimate of between 20 cents and 23 cents a share. Analysts had estimated earnings of 21 cents a share.

"Given the current macroeconomic environment, we do not view the revenue shortfall as surprising", wrote Jayson Noland, an analyst at R.W. Baird, in a note Tuesday, and maintained his neutral rating on Emulex. "We do not see a meaningful near-term catalyst that would drive shares higher," he added.

The Costa Mesa, Calif.-based firm's stock nonetheless rose 28 cents, or 3.94%, to $7.39 in early trading.