Barracuda shares plummet despite revenue jump

Backup player also announces a deal to buy Intronis to boost presence in MSP space

Barracuda Networks has seen a jump in revenue and boosted its presence in the MSP space with the acquisition of data-protection firm Intronis.

But the markets have not reacted well to the noises from the backup vendor, as its share price tumbled yesterday by 34 per cent to $15.58 (£10.28) per share.

The California-headquartered firm announced the Intronis deal on Tuesday. The company uses a software platform to provide data protection for MSPs.

"This acquisition is expected to greatly expand Barracuda's channel reach with the addition of nearly 2,000 MSPs and a purpose-built platform designed to streamline how MSPs service the data protection needs of their customers," a company statement said.

BJ Jenkins, Barracuda CEO, said: "The Intronis team has built a strong reputation for delivering a platform that was designed to meet the evolving needs of MSPs. Barracuda and Intronis share a commitment to simplicity, customer experience, and the channel."

Barracuda also released its latest quarterly results on Tuesday, which, for the three months to 31 August, saw it report a GAAP net loss of $2.2m compared with $700,000 net profit in the same quarter last year. This was on revenues of $78.4m which were up 14 per cent year on year.

Jenkins said the results were impinged by a slowdown in the overall storage market.

"The currency environment and longer sales cycles we experienced in EMEA in Q2 impacted our gross billing performance this quarter," he said. "Our storage category billings grew in the mid-20 per cent range year over year on a constant currency basis in Q2.

"However, we do see some evidence that growth in the overall storage market has slowed and that customer requirements are evolving, and we are adjusting our approach accordingly."