SAN JOSE, CA — (Marketwired) — 11/24/14 — (NASDAQ: BRCD) today reported financial results for its fourth quarter and full fiscal year 2014 ending November 1, 2014. Brocade reported fourth quarter revenue of $564 million, representing an increase of 1% year-over-year and an increase of 3% quarter-over-quarter. Revenue for fiscal year 2014 was $2,211 million, down 1% year-over-year due to the divestiture and repositioning of certain product lines. The resulting GAAP diluted earnings-per-share (EPS) was $0.19 for Q4 and $0.53 for fiscal year 2014, up 36% and 18% year-over-year, respectively. Non-GAAP diluted EPS was $0.24 for Q4, unchanged year-over-year, and $0.90 for fiscal year 2014, up 12% from fiscal year 2013.
“We delivered another strong quarter, highlighted by above-market growth of 9% in IP Networking product revenue and 2% SAN product revenue growth, on continuing products,” said Lloyd Carney, CEO of Brocade. “Our focus is on helping customers migrate to the New IP, accelerating data center innovation, building on our software networking leadership, and delivering a world-class customer experience.”
Please see important note of explanation on non-GAAP financial measures below, including a detailed reconciliation between GAAP and non-GAAP information in the tables included herein.
Q4 2014 SAN product revenue was $325 million, flat year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter. The SAN year-over-year product revenue performance reflects improvement in director and switch product sales offset by lower server product sales. Fiscal year 2014 SAN product revenue was $1,327 million, up 1% year-over-year. Excluding the divestiture of the HBA business, Q4 and fiscal year 2014 SAN product revenue were both up 2% year-over-year.
Q4 2014 IP Networking product revenue was $152 million, up 5% year-over-year and 15% quarter-over-quarter. The year-over-year increase was primarily driven by stronger switch and router sales into the U.S. Federal government and router sales into the service provider market. Fiscal year 2014 IP Networking product revenue was $525 million, down 5% year-over-year. Adjusting for the discontinuation of the wireless and network adapter products, and the repositioning of the Brocade ADX® product line, Q4 and fiscal year 2014 IP Networking product revenue grew 9% and 1%, respectively.
In fiscal year 2014, Brocade–s full-year GAAP gross margins and operating margins were 66.3% and 17.5%, respectively. Non-GAAP gross margins and operating margins reached 67.3% and 25.9%, respectively. Full-year operating cash flow was $542 million, a 20% increase over fiscal year 2013. During fiscal year 2014, the Company repurchased $335 million of stock, or 38 million shares, and paid $30 million in dividends. This return of capital to shareholders represents 66% of adjusted free cash flow for the year.
During Q4, Brocade acquired the network visibility and analytics technology assets from privately-held Vistapointe in an all cash transaction. The Vistapointe technologies are software-based, carrier-grade network visibility and analytics solutions for mobile operators. This acquisition expands Brocade–s capabilities in the strategic area of software networking and enables the Company to address the emerging opportunities and requirements of mobile service provider customers.
The Brocade Board of Directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.035 per share of the Company–s common stock. The dividend payment will be made on January 2, 2015, to shareholders of record at the close of market on December 10, 2014.
Brocade management will host a conference call today at 2:30 p.m. PT (5:30 p.m. ET) to discuss Q4 and fiscal year 2014 results, as well as a Q1 2015 outlook. To access the webcast please go to . A replay of the conference call and the prepared comments and slides will be available at .
Other Q4 2014 product, customer, and partner announcements are available at .
Brocade ()
130 Holger Way, San Jose, CA 95134
T. 408.333.8000 F. 408.333.8101
Please see important note of explanation on non-GAAP financial measures below, including a detailed reconciliation between GAAP and non-GAAP information in the tables included herein.
This press release contains non-GAAP financial measures. In evaluating Brocade–s performance, management uses certain non-GAAP financial measures to supplement consolidated financial statements prepared under GAAP.
Management believes that non-GAAP financial measures used in this press release allow management to gain a better understanding of Brocade–s comparative operating performance both from period to period, and relative to its competitors– operating results. Management also believes these non-GAAP financial measures help with the determination of Brocade–s baseline performance before gains, losses or charges that are considered by management to be outside ongoing operating results. Accordingly, management uses these non-GAAP financial measures for planning and forecasting of future periods and in making decisions regarding operations and the allocation of resources. Management believes these non-GAAP financial measures, when read in conjunction with Brocade–s GAAP financials, provide useful information to investors by offering:
the ability to make more meaningful period-to-period comparisons of Brocade–s ongoing operating results;
the ability to make more meaningful comparisons of Brocade–s operating performance against its industry and competitor companies;
the ability to better identify trends in Brocade–s underlying business and to perform related trend analysis;
a better understanding of how management plans and measures Brocade–s underlying business; and
an easier way to compare Brocade–s most recent results of operations against investor and analyst financial models.
Management excludes certain gains or losses and benefits or costs in determining non-GAAP net income that are the result of infrequent events or events that arise outside the ordinary course of Brocade–s continuing operations. Management believes that it is appropriate to evaluate Brocade–s operating performance by excluding those items that are not indicative of ongoing operating results or limit comparability. Such items include, but are not limited to: (i) legal provision associated with certain pre-acquisition litigation, (ii) call premium cost and write-off of original issue discount and debt issuance costs related to lenders that did not participate in refinancing, (iii) settlement gain associated with certain pre-acquisition-related litigation, (iv) restructuring, goodwill impairment, and other related costs, (v) gain on sale of network adapter business, (vi) gain on sale of non-marketable equity investment, and (vii) specific non-cash and non-recurring tax benefits or detriments.
Management also excludes the following non-cash charges in determining non-GAAP net income (i) stock-based compensation expense and (ii) amortization of purchased intangible assets. Because of varying use of valuation methodologies, subjective assumptions and the variety of award types, management believes that the exclusion of stock-based compensation allows for more accurate comparisons of our operating results to our peer companies. Management also believes that the exclusion of expense associated with the amortization of acquisition-related intangible assets is appropriate because a significant portion of the purchase price for acquisitions may be allocated to intangible assets that have short lives and the exclusion of amortization expense allows comparisons of operating results that are consistent over time for Brocade–s newly acquired and long-held businesses.
Finally, management believes that it is appropriate to exclude the tax effects of the items noted above in order to present a more meaningful measure of non-GAAP net income.
These non-GAAP financial measures have limitations, however, because they do not include all items of income and expense that impact the company. Management compensates for these limitations by also considering Brocade–s GAAP results. The non-GAAP financial measures that Brocade uses are not prepared in accordance with, and should not be considered an alternative to measurements required by GAAP, such as operating income, net income and net income per share, and should not be considered measurements of Brocade–s liquidity. The presentation of this additional information is not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the most directly comparable GAAP measures. In addition, these non-GAAP financial measures may not be comparable to similar measurements reported by other companies.
This press release contains statements that are forward-looking in nature, including statements regarding Brocade–s strategy, operational performance and prospects for revenue growth. These statements are based on current expectations on the date of this press release and involve a number of risks and uncertainties which may cause actual results to differ significantly from such estimates. The risks include, but are not limited to, changes in IT spending levels in one or more of our target markets, Brocade–s ability to execute on its sale strategy, and the effect of increasing market competition and changes in the industry. Certain of these and other risks are set forth in more detail in “Item 1A. Risk Factors” in Brocade–s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended August 2, 2014, and Brocade–s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended October 26, 2013. Brocade does not assume any obligation to update or revise any such forward-looking statements, whether as the result of new developments or otherwise.
Brocade (NASDAQ: BRCD) networking solutions help the world–s leading organizations transition smoothly to a world where applications and information reside anywhere. ()
ADX, Brocade, Brocade Assurance, the B-wing symbol, DCX, Fabric OS, HyperEdge, ICX, MLX, MyBrocade, OpenScript, VCS, VDX, and Vyatta are registered trademarks, and The Effortless Network and The On-Demand Data Center are trademarks of Brocade Communications Systems, Inc., in the United States and/or in other countries. Other brands, products, or service names mentioned may be trademarks of others.
© 2014 Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Public Relations
Katie Bromley
Tel: 408-333-0429
Investor Relations
Michael Iburg
Tel: 408-333-0233
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