Submitted by Fox First at Ten on October 24th
HOPKINTON, Mass. (AP) - EMC Corp.'s net income and revenue grew at a slower pace in the third quarter as the uncertain economy led to more cautious spending by customers for its data storage equipment.
The results fell short of Wall Street's expectations and EMC's stock slipped in morning trading.
The company said Wednesday that its net income rose 3 percent as revenue growth slowed from the double-digit gains that it's seen in the 10 previous quarters. Earnings had also grown in the double-digits for the past 10 quarters, helped by the growing need of companies to store and analyze vast troves of data.
EMC earned $626.3 million, or 28 cents per share, in the July-September period. That's up from $605.6 million, or 27 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier. Adjusted earnings were 40 cents per share in the latest quarter. This figure excludes stock compensation expenses, acquisition-related charges and other items.
Revenue grew 6 percent to $5.28 billion from $4.98 billion.
Analysts, on average, were expecting adjusted earnings of 42 cents per share on revenue of $5.46 billion, according to a poll by FactSet.
"For the third quarter, EMC's business continued to grow faster than overall (technology) spending growth and we gained market share in what turned out to be a more cautionary environment than we expected heading into the quarter," said David Goulden, president and chief operating officer, in a statement.
For the full year, EMC expects earnings of $1.24 to $1.26 per share and adjusted earnings of $1.68 to $1.70 per share. Analysts are forecasting adjusted revenue of $1.72 per share.
The company also forecast revenue of $21.60 billion to $21.75 billion, below the $22.03 billion that analysts are expecting.
Shares slipped 23 cents to $24.45 in morning trading after dropping as low as $24.07 earlier in the session. The stock has traded in the 52-week range of $21.25 to 30.
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