Gigamon’s stock is down nearly 30 percent today after the performance monitoring company announced weak preliminary fourth quarter and fiscal year 2016 results.
However, it’s worth noting that Gigamon has been on a roll the past few quarters in terms of revenue but has fallen short this time around, and the stock market has responded.
Specifically, the company’s fourth quarter revenue is weaker than expected because of a lower number of product bookings and deferrals from large customers in its North America West region, according to Gigamon’s pre-earnings release.
“We believe the pushed deals came primarily from service provider customers (namely T-Mobile) and content providers who delayed repeat purchases of new equipment,” writes analyst Catherine Trebnick of Dougherty & Co. in a research note today.
Additionally, analyst Simon Leopold of Raymond James & Associates writes in a research note from yesterday that the deferred spending decisions of Gigamon’s customers are consistent with the research firm’s checks showing decreased enterprise spending. Although Gigamon isn’t a pure-play security company, the slower spending in that sector is also affecting its revenues, Leopold writes.
For its fiscal fourth quarter Gigamon expects revenues between $84.5 million and $85 million, compared to the company’s previous guidance of $91 million to $93 million. GAAP earnings per share are expected to be from $0.18 to $0.20, while non-GAAP earnings per share are expected to be between $0.35 and $0.37, compared to the prior guidance of $0.36 to $0.38.
However, its GAAP and non-GAAP gross margin is higher than expected with both falling between 83 percent and 84 percent, compared to its prior guidance of 82 percent to 83 percent.
“While the results are concerning, we believe the company will be able to recover the deferred revenue and get back on track with regards to growth in fiscal year 2017,” Trebnick writes.
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