* Also: SBC net income down; Juniper exceeds analyst estimates
For its last official financial reporting act as an independent company, AT&T posted net income of $520 million for the third quarter of 2005, up from a net loss of $7.1 billion for the comparable period a year ago. But the carrier experienced a drop in long-distance voice and data revenue. AT&T recorded revenue of $6.6 billion, including $5.1 billion from AT&T Business and $1.5 billion from AT&T Consumer. Revenue declined 13.3% from $7.6 billion in the third quarter of 2004, mainly because of declines in long-distance voice and data revenue.
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AT&T’s parent-to-be, SBC, posted net income of $1.2 billion for the third quarter of 2005, down from $2.1 billion in the same period a year ago. Without merger- and hurricane-related costs at Cingular Wireless, which is 60% owned by SBC, the RBOC realized income of $1.5 billion during the quarter. Cingular acquired AT&T Wireless a year ago. SBC’s third-quarter earnings fell below analyst expectations.
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Reports of Juniper’s enterprise malaise are premature. The router rival to Cisco posted third-quarter results that exceeded analyst estimates due to 37% growth in NetScreen security products from the year-ago period. In previous quarters, sequential sales of NetScreen products disappointed analysts, and they were expecting another lackluster Q3 for security. But Juniper blew them away with overall net revenue of $546.4 million, compared with $375 million for the same period last year, an increase of 46%. Analysts were forecasting revenue of $531.11 million for the quarter, according to Thomson First Call. Non-GAAP net income was $114.7 million, compared with non-GAAP net income of $73.5 million in the third quarter of 2004. Analysts forecast non-GAAP net income of $108.7 million in the quarter.
