The U.S.-based storage computers manufacturer, EMC Corp., reported today on its earnings over the third fiscal quarter, which came below initial analysts forecasts, amid decreasing customer spending on storage.
According to the companys statement, EMC profit for the period, excluding some expenses, amounted to 44 cents per share. Its revenue increased by 8.9% to reach $6 billion. This result fell short of initial analysts projections, pointing to a profit of 46 cents per share.
EMC also stated its annual projection, according to which its full-year earnings are expected to be $1.90 per share on sales of $24.5 billion. This forecast is slightly lower than the earnings of $1.91 per share on revenue of $24.5 billion, as expected by analysts. The company also said that it expects about 45% of its revenue to be generated from global sales.
EMC explained that most customers have been recently trimming their spending on large machines for data storage, with some clients becoming more oriented towards cloud-computing data storage provided by companies such as Amazon.com Inc.
The storage manufacturer also said it agreed to purchase a part of the Cisco Systems Inc.s stake in a joint venture company called VCE, which is engaged in selling computing gear to business customers. In addition, the company has been recently put under pressure by its activist investor, Elliott Management Corp., which asked EMC to consider a spin-off of its faster-growing VMware. The revenue of VMware is expected to increase by 16% this year, a considerably larger rate of increase in comparison with the 6% rate, expected for EMC.
EMC Corp. added 0.18% to trade at $27.25 per share today, marking a one-year increase of 13.02%. The company is valued at $55.19 billion. According to CNN Money, the 33 analysts offering 12-month price forecasts for EMC Corp. have a median target of $33.00, with a high estimate of $37.00 and a low estimate of $27.00. The median estimate represents a +22.86% increase from the last price of $26.86.
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