WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Virtualization software maker VMware, Inc. (VMW) said Wednesday after the markets closed that its first quarter profit rose 52% from last year, as revenue increased 25% amid strong demand for its products.
The company's quarterly earnings per share, excluding items, also came in above analysts' expectations as did its quarterly revenue. At the same time, the company raised its full year revenue outlook.
'The quarter's solid performance across our portfolio underscores the value that VMware is providing customers as they work to transform their IT organizations,' said Paul Maritz, chief executive officer, VMware.
Vmware shares gained 2.5% in after hours trading after closing the day's regular trading session at $111.29, up 80 cents. The shares trade in a 52-week range of $74.69 to $115.19.
For the first quarter ended March 31, 2012, the Palo Alto, California-based company reported net income of $191.4 million or $0.44 per share, compared to $125.8 million or $0.29 per share for the year-ago quarter.
Excluding items, adjusted net income for the first quarter was $287.3 million or $0.66 per share, compared to $203.9 million or $0.48 per share in the prior year quarter.
On average, 36 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $0.60 per share for the first quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
Total revenue for the first quarter rose 25% to $1.06 billion from $843.72 billion in the same quarter last year. Thirty-four analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $1.03 billion for the first quarter.
License revenues for the first quarter grew 15% to $482 million, while service revenues surged 35% to $573 million.
U.S. revenues for the quarter increased 21% to $485 million, while international revenues rose 28% to $570 million.
Looking forward, the company forecast second quarter revenue of in the range of $1.10 to $1.12 billion. Analysts currently expect the company to post revenue of $1.11 billion for the second quarter.
Additionally, the company raised its full year 2012 revenue outlook to a range of $4.525 to $4.625 billion from its prior outlook of $4.475 billion and $4.600 billion. Analysts currently expect the company to post revenue of $4.57 billion for the full year 2012.
The company, which operates as a subsidiary of EMC Corp. (EMC), last week announced several changes to its executive management team, including the departure of Chief Financial Officer Mark Peek. The company announced the promotion of Carl Eschenbach to Chief Operating Officer and Co-President, and Raghu Raghuram to Executive Vice President of Cloud Infrastructure and Management.
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