The shares of this tech company were recently upgraded by Bernstein to ‘Outperform’; by Standpoint Research to ‘Buy’; and by Deutsche Bank, to ‘Buy’. The company beat earnings estimates by three cents last quarter.
Juniper Networks (JNPR)
From Wealth Advisory
Juniper Networks (JNPR) sells routing and switching gear to corporations, but in addition to the routers and switches that direct traffic on the Internet, the company also provides software, tech support, and training. Juniper is more aligned with the open-source movement, allowing its switching software to run on any router, while bigger rival, Cisco, has resisted this. And Juniper also has more exposure to the mobile computing space, which is central to success in the future of business.
In the company’s most recent earnings report for quarter 4 2015:
• Net income was $247.6 million, a strong increase of 38% year-over-year and an increase of 12% sequentially.
• Net revenues were $1,319.6 million, an increase of 20% year-over-year and 6% sequentially.
• For the year ended December 31, 2015, Juniper’s net revenues were $4,857.8 million, an increase of 5.0% year-over-year as reported, or 7.0% adjusted for the sale of Junos Pulse in 2014.
• Non-GAAP net income was $2.03 per diluted share for fiscal year 2015, an increase of 40% year-over-year.
• Record fourth quarter 2015 results reflect strong year-over-year and sequential revenue and earnings growth.
The company provided lower-than-expected 2016 first quarter guidance and announced its CFO was resigning during Q4 conference call; numerous analysts see buying opportunity.
TWA Bottom Line: I still view Juniper Networks as a solid play on increased CAPEX spending and mobile carrier network upgrades. And given the company’s excellent performance and new contracts, I am happy to maintain my buy-under price at $29 and my 12-month price target of $36.
Briton Ryle, The Wealth Advisory, www.angelpub.com, 877-303-4529, March 2016