Brocade reported third quarter revenue of $545 million, up 2% year-over-year and up 2% quarter-over-quarter. The company reported GAAP diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.20, down from $0.26 in Q3 2013, and up from a loss per share of $(0.03) in Q2 2014. During Q3 2013, the Company recognized a gain of $77 million related to the litigation settlement with A10 Networks, which increased GAAP EPS by $0.13 in that quarter.
“With another solid quarter behind us, we are seeing the tangible benefits of our data center focused strategy,” said Lloyd Carney, CEO of Brocade. “The resilience and durability of our SAN business, along with strong Brocade VDX sales, validate our strategic direction. We continue to leverage our core competencies in hardware and software networking to position the company for growth, and we remain focused on delivering a world-class customer experience, even in the most demanding environments.”
Some highlights:
- SAN business revenue, including products and services, was $380 million, up 3% year-over-year and flat sequentially. The year-over-year improvement was the result of 4% growth in SAN product revenue due to higher switch and director sales, partially offset by lower embedded product sales and the revenue impact from the divestiture of the HBA business during Q1 2014. The revenue performance was better than expected in a typically soft demand quarter.
- IP Networking business revenue, including products and services, was $166 million, down 1% year-over-year and up 5% sequentially. The sequential increase was primarily due to higher sales of Ethernet switching products to the U.S. Federal government and strong Brocade VDX sales to data center customers, partially offset by lower routing sales to service provider customers and lower support revenue. Q3 2014 IP Networking product revenue was $133 million, down 1% year-over-year and up 9% sequentially. Ethernet switch revenue increased 17% year-over-year and 27% sequentially. Routing product revenue decreased 19% year-over-year and 20% sequentially, primarily due to a pause in some customer orders in anticipation of new products scheduled for release in fiscal Q4 2014.