Technology

Unexpected Headwinds in Citrix Earnings Guidance

Citrix Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CTXS) is a company that you might not think of as having restructuring issues or currency headwinds. After seeing the company’s warning and stock reaction on Thursday after the close, this company does have these issues. These preliminary unaudited results are based on the initial review by management and will be updated with the formal earnings report.

Revenue for the quarter is now expected to be in the range of $755 million to $760 million, below the previous guidance range of $780 million to $790 million. Earnings per share (EPS) are expected to be in the range of $0.63 to $0.65, compared to the previous guidance of $0.70 to $0.72. Thomson Reuters has consensus estimates of $0.72 in EPS on $786.76 million in revenue.

It is worth mentioning that the earnings estimates exclude the effects from the amortization of acquired intangible assets, the restructuring programs and the benefit from a previously disclosed patent lawsuit.

Mark Templeton, president and CEO of Citrix, said:

We are disappointed with our Q1 results, but fully committed to the financial, operational and strategic initiatives announced last quarter. We underestimated the impact caused by our restructuring, organizational evolution, and changes to our field and channel strategies, which were the result of important decisions made to get the business ready for our next phase of growth. Additionally, the increase in foreign exchange volatility impacted results and customer-buying behavior to a larger extent than anticipated in the quarter. We are continuing to optimize our business model and our focus on improving margins remains unchanged.

Again, this is one of those situations that many investors just might not have expected to be hearing. The restructuring issues seem to be more dominant, but Citrix is not one of the U.S. technology players that investors instantly think of when it comes to worrying about foreign exchange issues.

Shares of Citrix closed up 28 cents at $64.65, but the shares were down about 6% at $60.81 in after-hours trading Thursday. The stock has a consensus analyst price target of $66.84 and a 52-week trading range of $53.86 to $72.89.

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