NetApp: Fiscal 3Q15 Financial Results

NetApp, Inc. reported financial results for the third quarter of fiscal year 2015, ended January 23, 2015.

Third Quarter Financial Results
Net revenues for the third quarter of fiscal year 2015 were $1.55 billion. GAAP net income for the third quarter of fiscal year 2015 was $177 million, or $0.56 per share compared to GAAP net income of $192 million, or $0.55 per share, for the comparable period of the prior year. Non-GAAP net income for the third quarter of fiscal year 2015 was $238 million, or $0.75 per share,3compared to non-GAAP net income of $261 million, or $0.75 per share, for the comparable period of the prior year.

Cash, Cash Equivalents and Investments
NetApp ended the third quarter of fiscal year 2015 with $5.25 billion of total cash, cash equivalents and investments and during the quarter generated $275 million in cash from operations. The company returned $251 million to shareholders during the quarter through share repurchases and a cash dividend. The next dividend in the amount of $0.165 per share will be paid on April 23, 2015, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on April 10, 2015.

“To position NetApp for success now, and in the future, we remain focused on extending our data fabric vision, a differentiated strategy for the hybrid cloud which allows customers to seamlessly manage their data regardless of where it’s stored,” said Tom Georgens, chairman and CEO. “In the third quarter we continued to deliver against this vision, enhancing our strong product portfolio with new software, services and systems to help our customers to realize the value of the hybrid cloud.”

Q4 Fiscal Year 2015 Outlook

• Net revenues are expected to be in the range of $1.55 billion to $1.65 billion
• GAAP earnings per share is expected to be in the range of $0.46 to $0.51 per share
• Non-GAAP earnings per share is expected to be in the range of $0.70 to $0.75 per share

Increased Stock Repurchase Program
NetApp increased its stock repurchase program, of which $206 million remained available, by an additional $2.5 billion. The company plans to repurchase $206 million of its common stock by the end of May 2015. The additional $2.5 billion of repurchases is expected to be completed by the end of May 2018, with the first $1 billion expected to be completed by the end of May 2016. Under its stock repurchase program, the firm may purchase shares of its outstanding common stock through open market and privately negotiated transactions at prices deemed appropriate by management. The timing and amount of repurchase transactions under the program will depend on market conditions, corporate business and financial considerations, and regulatory requirements.

Expands Product Portfolio
Acquisition of Riverbed Technology’s SteelStore Product Line: NetApp purchased the SteelStore product to offer enterprises cloud-integrated storage to securely and efficiently backup data to both private and public cloud environments.

Expands Hybrid cloud Solutions in Support of Data Fabric Vision

• Clustered Data ONTAP 8.3: Enhancements to the company’s software-defined storage OS help organizations of all sizes improve their levels of availability, performance and efficiency. New support for MetroCluster DR software provides enterprises with uninterrupted recovery from failures across data centers allowing critical business applications to continue to operate in the event of disasters or planned outages.
• Cloud ONTAP: Built on clustered Data ONTAP 8.3, the first release of the cloud ONTAP OS combines the power of clustered Data ONTAP with the scale of Amazon Web Services (AWS), providing non-disruptive operations, seamless scalability and efficiency, combined with the on-demand computing benefits of cloud services.
• OnCommand Cloud Manager: Efficient and easy provisioning of clustered Data ONTAP instances between private cloud and public cloud providers allows customers and partners to have seamless visibility into their hybrid cloud environments.
  NetApp Private Storage (NPS) for SoftLayer, an IBM company: NPS for Cloud, which now includes SoftLayer, enables customers to use multiple clouds and maintain control of their data on a single NetApp storage device strategically placed in select colocation facilities.

Strengthens Partnerships

• Deepens AWS Partnership: NetApp SteelStore virtual appliance and the Cloud ONTAP system, now available on AWS, extend enterprises’ existing on-premises data management and data protection operations to AWS.
• Further Strength in Hyperconverged Infrastructure: Powered by VMware EVO:RAIL and the Data ONTAP OS, the NetApp Integrated EVO:RAIL solution allows customers to deploy and manage virtualized business critical applications.