Juniper's Q4 performance impacted by weak carrier spending

Juniper Networks (NYSE: JNPR) is feeling the pain of tighter service provider spending patterns as its Q4 2011 net revenues declined 6 percent year-over-year and a lower-than-expected Q1 2012 outlook.

This news did not sit well with Wall Street as the vendor's shares fell 8 percent yesterday.

Looking towards Q1 2012, the vendor forecast Q1 2012 adjusted earnings of 11 cents to 14 cents per share on revenue of $960 million to $990 million. This was below analysts' expectations of earnings of 26 cents a share on $1.1 billion in revenue.

Juniper said its outlook "reflects near-term uncertainty in the macro-environment and the effect it may have on the level, timing, and prioritization of customer demand."

"They (Juniper) continued to suffer from carrier capex, which is weak, and their end markets are becoming more competitive ... especially from HP," ThinkEquity Analyst Rajesh Ghai told Reuters.

However, there were some bright spots.

On a sequential basis, Juniper's revenue did increase 1 percent to $1.1 billion. Likewise, revenue for the year ended Dec. 31, 2011, rose year-over-year to $4.4 billion.

"While the fourth quarter was softer than we had anticipated primarily due to weak demand from service providers, Juniper delivered record revenues in a year where macroeconomic uncertainty increased as the year unfolded," said Kevin Johnson, president and CEO.

For more:
- see the earnings release
- Reuters has this article

Special report: Wireline in the fourth quarter 2011

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