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Data storage equipment maker NetApp reported fourth-quarter results below analysts’ estimates, hurt by lower sales to original equipment manufacturers, sending its shares down more than 8 percent in extended trading.
The company, which cut about 500 jobs as part of a restructuring, also forecast first-quarter profit below market estimates.
NetApp has been trying to boost growth by focusing on cloud-based products as businesses cut spending on high-end storage systems.
It also faces competition from larger rival EMC and newer and cheaper flash-based storage technology vendors such as Nimble Storage and Pure Storage.
Net income fell to $134.9 million, or 43 cents per share, for the quarter ended April 24, compared with $197 million, or 59 cents per share, in the year-earlier quarter.
Revenue fell about 7 percent to $1.54 billion.
Excluding items, the company earned 65 cents per share. Analysts were expecting adjusted earnings of 72 cents per share on revenue of $1.59 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
For the first quarter, NetApp forecast a profit of 20 cents to 25 cents per share on revenue of $1.28 billion to $1.38 billion.
Analyst on average were expecting a profit of 59 cents on $1.46 billion in revenue.
NetApp expects to incur charges of about $25 million to $35 million related to the job cuts, the company said in a regulatory filing.
Most of the charges will be recognized in the company’s first quarter.
NetApp’s shares closed at $35.33 on the Nasdaq on Wednesday.
(Reporting by Anya George Tharakan in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva)
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
