Revenue And Profit Jump At Network ApplianceRevenue And Profit Jump At Network Appliance

It's never easy when you lead a market and the big guys start gunning for you. But Network Appliance Inc. is holding its own, showing a profit and standing up to some of the biggest names in the whole IT industry. While attending the same dance with the likes of Dell Computer, EMC, Hewlett-Packard, and IBM, Network Appliance on Tuesday reported increased revenue and profit for its fourth quarter and the full year.

For the fourth quarter, ended April 30, Network Appliance reported revenue of $241.6 million, up 18% from the year-ago quarter. Net income of $24.8 million was more than three times as much as in the corresponding quarter last year, as was the 7 cents in earnings per share.

For fiscal 2003, revenue was $892 million, up 12% from the previous year. Net income of $76.5 million was up from $3 million in fiscal 2002, and earnings per share of 23 cents were up from 1 cent per share for the previous year.

CEO Dan Warmenhoven credited strong sales and operational performance for the strong results. For a change among vendors in the technology sector, hard times weren't the focus, he said.

Though he maintains a hold recommendation because he says the stock is trading at 33 times expected earnings per share for fiscal 2004, Shebly Seyrafi, a financial analyst at A.G. Edwards and Sons, credited Network Appliance for its forays into new market areas. He thinks the vendor is holding its own amid the stiff competition because of one device that helps customers integrate disparate types of storage and another device that offers a faster backup and recovery option than tape storage.