Riverbed Technology Incorporated Stock Downgraded (RVBD)

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Riverbed Technology Incorporated (Nasdaq:RVBD) has been downgraded by TheStreet Ratings from buy to hold. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures and expanding profit margins. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including a generally disappointing performance in the stock itself, unimpressive growth in net income and premium valuation.

Highlights from the ratings report include:

• Despite its growing revenue, the company underperformed as compared with the industry average of 16.8%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues rose by 11.5%. This growth in revenue does not appear to have trickled down to the company's bottom line, displayed by a decline in earnings per share.
• RVBD has no debt to speak of therefore resulting in a debt-to-equity ratio of zero, which we consider to be a relatively favorable sign. To add to this, RVBD has a quick ratio of 2.32, which demonstrates the ability of the company to cover short-term liquidity needs.
• RIVERBED TECHNOLOGY INC's earnings per share declined by 50.0% in the most recent quarter compared to the same quarter a year ago. This company has reported somewhat volatile earnings recently. But, we feel it is poised for EPS growth in the coming year. During the past fiscal year, RIVERBED TECHNOLOGY INC increased its bottom line by earning $0.39 versus $0.22 in the prior year. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings ($1.04 versus $0.39).
• Net operating cash flow has decreased to $15.12 million or 39.01% when compared to the same quarter last year. In addition, when comparing the cash generation rate to the industry average, the firm's growth is significantly lower.
• The share price of RIVERBED TECHNOLOGY INC has not done very well: it is down 16.67% and has underperformed the S&P 500, in part reflecting the company's sharply declining earnings per share when compared to the year-earlier quarter. Looking ahead, we do not see anything in this company's numbers that would change the one-year trend. It was down over the last twelve months; and it could be down again in the next twelve. Naturally, a bull or bear market could sway the movement of this stock.

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Riverbed Technology, Inc. provides solutions to the fundamental problems associated with information technology performance across wide area networks (WANs) in the United States and internationally. The company has a P/E ratio of 70.6, above the average computer hardware industry P/E ratio of 69.8 and above the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. Riverbed Technology has a market cap of $4.18 billion and is part of the technology sector and computer hardware industry. Shares are up 18.6% year to date as of the close of trading on Friday.

You can view the full Riverbed Technology Ratings Report or get investment ideas from our investment research center.
-- Written by a member of TheStreet Ratings Staff

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