Juniper Networks' Shares Surge After Profit, Sales Beat Expectations

Juniper Networks Inc. shares surged 6.9% in after-hours trade Thursday, after the networking company reported better-than-expected first-quarter profit and sales. The company said net earnings fell to $80.2 million, or 19 cents a share, from $110.6 million, or 22 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, such as acquisition-related charges, adjusted earnings per share were 32 cents, beating the FactSet consensus of 31 cents. Revenue fell 9% to $1.07 billion, but topped the FactSet consensus of $1.045 billion. For the second quarter, Juniper expects adjusted EPS in the range of 38 cents to 42 cents and revenue of $1.09 billion to $1.12 billion, compared with the FactSet consensus estimates of 38 cents and $1.095 billion, respectively. The stock has gained 7.5% year to date through Thursday, outperforming the S&P 500's 2.6% rise.