Q2 a mixed bag for WAN optimization players

The economy isn’t making things easy on technology vendors, but there are signs of hope among the handful of WAN optimization and application acceleration players that just reported their quarterly results.

Citrix Systems grew is income 22%, despite nearly flat revenue. Riverbed Technology grew its revenue by 12% compared to a year ago, and Radware narrowed its losses by 76%. Akamai Technologies, meanwhile, grew both revenue and profit by 5%. Here are some of the details:

•  Citrix revenue flat, net income up 22%

Citrix last week reported financial results for its second quarter, ended June 30. Citrix’s revenue hit $393 million, a slight gain compared to $392 million posted in the second quarter of 2008. Net income for the second quarter came in at $43 million, or 23 cents per share, compared to $35 million, or 18 cents per share, a year ago.

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The economy isn’t making things easy on technology vendors, but there are signs of hope among the handful of WAN optimization and application acceleration players that just reported their quarterly results.

Citrix Systems grew is income 22%, despite nearly flat revenue. Riverbed Technology grew its revenue by 12% compared to a year ago, and Radware narrowed its losses by 76%. Akamai Technologies, meanwhile, grew both revenue and profit by 5%. Here are some of the details:

• Citrix revenue flat, net income up 22%

Citrix last week reported financial results for its second quarter, ended June 30. Citrix’s revenue hit $393 million, a slight gain compared to $392 million posted in the second quarter of 2008. Net income for the second quarter came in at $43 million, or 23 cents per share, compared to $35 million, or 18 cents per share, a year ago.

Digging a bit deeper, product license revenue decreased 15%, while revenue from license updates grew 9%. On the services side, online services revenue grew 18% and technical services revenue (consulting, education and technical support) grew 3%. Revenue increased in the America’s region by 3%, decreased in the EMEA region by 12%, and decreased in the Pacific region by 4%. Deferred revenue totaled $538 million, compared to $476 million a year ago, Citrix reports.

Looking ahead, Citrix expects net revenue to be flat compared to the third quarter of last year. Likewise, Citrix expects net revenue for the full year to be flat as compared to 2008’s $1.6 billion annual revenue.

On the product front, some Q2 highlights for Citrix include the unveiling of NetScaler VPX, a software-based virtual appliance version of its NetScaler MPX hardware; upgrades to Citrix Essentials for XenServer and Hyper-V that add virtualization management capabilities; the addition of three new appliance models, the NetScaler MPX 9500, MPX 7500 and MPX 5500; and the debut of Citrix Dazzle, a self-service storefront for enterprise applications.

• Riverbed narrows losses, but misses revenue expectations

Riverbed grew revenue in its second quarter, ended June 30, but failed to swing a profit, the company reported last week. Total revenue came in at $91 million, an increase of 12% from $81.6 million reported in the second quarter of year 2008. The net loss for the quarter was $290,000, compared to a net loss of $869,000 a year ago.

Excluding one-time items, non-GAAP net income for the quarter was $10.3 million, or 14 cents per share, as compared to $9.9 million, or 13 cents per share, reported a year earlier. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had expected profit of 14 cents per share on revenue of $93.6 million.

“Our competitive position remains strong, our pipeline is healthy, and we are targeting revenue and profit growth in the third quarter,” Riverbed CEO Jerry Kennelly said in a statement.

Some product highlights for Q2 include the introduction of Cascade 8.3, which feature greater automation and WAN visibility features; a deal to offer Check Point Security Gateway R70 on the Riverbed Services Platform; and a deal to offer Websense Web Security on the Riverbed Services Platform.

• Radware reports record revenue

With help from the recent acquisition of Nortel’s Alteon business, Radware this week reported record revenue of $27.1 million for the second quarter, a gain of 13% over the $24 million reported in the second quarter of 2008.

The company recorded a net loss for the quarter of $1.7 million, or 9 cents per share, compared to a net loss of $7.1 million, or 36 cents per share, a year ago.

Excluding stock-based compensation expenses and other charges, non-GAAP net income hit $800,000, or 4 cents per share, compared with a net loss of $5 million, or 25 cents per share, a year ago. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had expected a loss of 4 cents a share.

“... we were able to organically grow our core business while concurrently recording revenues from our newly acquired Nortel Alteon business,” Radware CEO Roy Zisapel said in a statement. “This is an indicator of the strength of our company’s execution during a difficult economic climate and, with the addition of the Alteon business, we further believe we have a solid platform for continued growth.”

• Akamai ups revenue, profit by 5%

Akamai this week reported revenue of $204.6 million, representing a 5% increase over second-quarter 2008 revenue of $194 million. Net income also grew 5% to $36 million, or 19 cents per share, from $34.3 million, or 19 cents per share, in Q2 2008.

The number of customers under recurring contracts at the end of the second quarter increased to a record 2,979, a 9% increase year-over-year, Akamai says.

"In today's challenging environment, our scale and strong balance sheet give us the flexibility to support changing customer requirements, particularly in the media and entertainment vertical where traffic growth has been accelerating,” said Paul Sagan, president and CEO of Akamai, in a statement. “Further, we continued to experience good traction with our newer, value-added solutions, such as application performance services and dynamic site acceleration."

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