Citrix’s citric Q1 results
A quick summary of the earnings and guidance relative to analyst forecasts
- Q1 Revenue of $672.9 million vs. analyst estimates of $676.9 million
- Q1 Non-GAAP EPS of $0. 62 vs. analyst estimates of $0.63
- Q2 Revenue guidance of $705 million-$715 million vs. analyst estimates of $711.5 million
- Q2 EPS guidance of $0.62-$0.63 vs. analyst estimates of $0.70
- Full Year Revenue guidance of $2.95 billion-$2.98 billion vs. analyst estimates of $2.97 billion
- Full Year EPS guidance of $3.08-$3.11 vs. analyst estimates of $3.14
So, its Q2 EPS guidance is way below consensus estimates but the full year revenue guidance is in line with the market and Citrix’s previous guidance. However the full year EPS forecast is now 1.4% below estimates. Is that really a reason to panic?
I think the answer to this question is ‘no’, but then again, I can appreciate how some investors wouldn’t want to spend a summer waiting for the market to wake up and come around to its point of view. As for the maintenance of full year revenue guidance and the decent looking earnings guidance, well, what usually happens is that the market chooses to ignore them and focus on the near-term trends. They appear to be negative. Or do they?
Short-term loss aversion
I have a few points to make over these results which should add more color.
Firstly, there was a combination of temporary macro weakness and a new product issue which appears to be rectifying. International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM), Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ:ORCL), Tibco Software Inc. (NASDAQ:TIBX), F5 Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV) have all missed estimates this earnings season. There is no doubt in my mind that corporations are in a ‘cost-cutting’ first mode right now, and fears over the sequester haven’t helped. In fact, they appear to be using any excuse to delay purchases, particularly with discretionary items.
International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) and Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ:ORCL) saw general weakness (although they blamed sales execution), but I note that F5 is undergoing some product refreshes while the story with Citrix Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CTXS) was largely over disappointing mobile & desktop virtualization revenue.
Citrix Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CTXS) argued that this was partly due to the Q1 launch of its enterprise mobility XenMobile solution. In other words, customers may well have delayed orders. In a cautious spending environment, it’s reasonable to expect CIOs to ‘prioritize their caution’ towards any solution that wasn’t mission critical or required consideration. Is this what also happened with F5’s product refresh?
The good news is that Citrix Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CTXS) forecast low double-digit growth in mobile & desktop license, and that its full year plans were ‘on track’.
Secondly, the Q2 earnings estimate is disappointing, but this is the first time that the company has actually given Q2 guidance. I suspect it did so because management knew the earnings number was coming in way below market estimates. I think that this is a consequence of the way analysts were modeling the numbers.
Moreover, the product mix (with Netscaler sales increasing strongly but virtualization growth weaker) is contributing to lower margins. Indeed, Citrix Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CTXS) did lower full year margin and earnings guidance, but it was hardly a dramatic downgrade.
