VMware and Citrix square off in results showdown

Split decision: VMware and Citrix shared honours in Q3

VMware outgrew rival Citrix in the third quarter although the latter posted higher profits.

While the two virtualisation supremos went head to head last night as they released results for the three months to 30 September, no clear winner emerged. The showdown came just days after Citrix launched an aggressive migration programme targeting VMware customers.

VMware topped analyst expectations by posting a four per cent year-on-year rise in revenues to $490m (£295m), which it attributed to strong US government sales and increased transaction volumes.

Meanwhile, Citrix’s revenues were virtually flat at $401m, but the vendor banked higher profits than its competitor. Citrix’s net profit rose from $49m to $53m year on year, while the equivalent figure for VMware more than halved to $38m.

Citrix chief executive Mark Templeton said he was “pleased” with the results.

“Our sales, product and operational teams executed very well in a tough economic climate to not only post good results, but to strengthen Citrix leadership in the web collaboration, desktop virtualisation and datacentre transformation markets,” he said.

Elsewhere, Citrix competitor F5 Networks saw its share price fly up in response to a barnstorming set of fiscal fourth quarter results.

The application delivery specialist smashed analyst expectations by posting revenues of $175.1m – up two per cent year on year and 11 per cent sequentially. Net profit grew from $19.7m to $28.4m year on year.

F5 chief executive John McAdam said the rebound in revenue growth during the quarter reflected a continuation of the trend toward more normal customer spending patterns.

“In general, Q4 was a strong finish to a challenging year,” he said. “While it is still too early to rule out the possibility of another broad economic setback, the strength of our current business and our growing pipeline are enc ouraging signs that the positive trends we saw in the last two quarters will continue through fiscal 2010.”