Riverbed Climbs After Analyst Upgrades Stock

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Riverbed Technology Inc. rose Monday after a Piper Jaffray analyst upgraded the stock, saying a drop in the stock price following the corporate data network manager's recent earnings report makes for a good time to buy the shares.

Riverbed shares rose 83 cents, or 3.9 percent, to $21.99 in afternoon trading. They fell 10.3 percent on Friday to close at $21.16 following the company's third-quarter report late Thursday.

On Thursday, Riverbed reported that it earned 8 cents per share in the third quarter, compared with a loss of 17 cents per share in the year-ago quarter. When excluding items, Riverbed earned 19 cents per share. The company's revenue rose 18 percent to $102 million.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected an adjusted profit of 15 cents per share on revenue of $97 million.

In a Monday client note, Piper Jaffray analyst Troy D. Jensen raised his rating for Riverbed to "Outperform" from "Neutral." He holds a $24 price target for the shares.

Jensen said that the company's report should have been considered "very solid" and that the drop in share price was uncalled for.