Barracuda Networks says fewer customers signed big storage contracts in 1st qtr; stock slumps

Shares of Barracuda Networks tumbled in aftermarket trading after the company said its storage business struggled in its fiscal first quarter.

The cloud-based security and storage services provider said it didn't sign as many large and lengthy storage deals in the first quarter as it had in the previous quarter and said more customers chose virtual and cloud products. Barracuda Networks said it signed some more big storage contracts after the quarter ended. The company also said the strong dollar affected its results.

Barracuda Networks Inc. stock declined $6.70, or 17.1 percent, to $32.42 in extended trading.

Barracuda Networks lost $3.8 million, or 7 cents per share, over the three months that ended on May 31. The company reported a profit of $151,000 a year ago. Excluding items like stock-based compensation and acquisition costs, however, Barracuda said it earned 9 cents per share in the latest quarter. Its revenue climbed 18 percent to $78 million.

Analysts expected net income of 8 cents per share and $77.4 million in revenue, according to Zacks Investment Research.

The Campbell, California-based company said it expects to report an adjusted profit of about 9 cents per share in the current fiscal quarter and said revenue would be between $78 million and $79 million. That compares with the average analyst estimate for a profit of 9 cents per share on revenue of $80.5 million, according to FactSet.

Barracuda Networks maintained its forecasts for the full year, calling for adjusted income of 36 to 41 cents per share on revenue of $325 million to $330 million. Analysts expect earnings per share of 38 cents and revenue of $328 million.

Shares of Barracuda Networks closed regular trading Thursday at $39.12, up 41 cents. The stock is up 9 percent in 2015.

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Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on CUDA at http://www.zacks.com/ap/CUDA

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Keywords: Barracuda Networks, Earnings Report