VMware Barely Beats Third Quarter Estimates

By Chris Lange Updated Apr 28, 9:21AM EDT · Published Oct 20, 4:22PM EDT

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VMware, Inc. (NYSE: VMW) reported its third quarter financial results after the markets closed on Tuesday. The company had $1.02 in earnings per share (EPS) on $1.67 billion in revenue compared to consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters that call for $1.00 in EPS on $1.66 billion in revenue. The same period from the previous year had $0.87 in EPS on $1.52 billion in revenue.

For this quarter, license revenues totaled $681 million, an increase of 7% from the previous third quarter, and up 11% year over year in constant currency.

It’s worth noting that last week, Dell and EMC made the announcement that Dell is intending to acquire EMC, while maintaining VMware as an independent publicly-traded company.

Recently, VMware and EMC announced plans to form a new Cloud Services Business, jointly owned 50:50 by EMC and VMware, and offering customers the industry’s most comprehensive hybrid cloud portfolio. The transaction is expected to close in early 2016.

Earlier this quarter the company hosted VMworld 2015, where over 32,000 customers, partners and influencers arrived in San Francisco and Barcelona to announce a wave of new products, services and partner updates designed to help customers with their businesses and encourage them to embrace a new model for IT.

Pat Gelsinger, CEO of VMware, said:

Our solid third-quarter financial results reflect VMware’s strength in delivering extraordinary value to our customers. We are very optimistic about the long term value to VMware of the Dell and EMC plans to merge and the formation of the Cloud Services Business. VMware’s mission and strategy remain unchanged as we continue to deliver extraordinary value to our customers through the power of disruptive innovation.

Jonathan Chadwick, CFO, COO and executive vice president, added:

Consistent with our third-quarter earnings pre-announcement, I’m pleased with our overall Q3 results, with total revenue exceeding the high end of our guidance range.

In the third quarter, operating cash flows totaled $411 million and free cash flows were $321 million. On the books the company had $7.22 billion in cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments.

Shares of VMware closed Tuesday down 0.7% at $68.76, with a consensus analyst price target of $90.03 and a 52-week trading range of $67.48 to $93.43. Following the release of the earnings report, shares were up 1.8% at $70.02 in the after-hours trading session.

About the Author Chris Lange →

Chris Lange is a writer for 24/7 Wall St., based in Houston. He has covered financial markets over the past decade with an emphasis on healthcare, tech, and IPOs. During this time, he has published thousands of articles with insightful analysis across these complex fields. Currently, Lange's focus is on military and geopolitical topics.

Lange's work has been quoted or mentioned in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo, The Verge, Vice, The Intelligencer, Quartz, Nasdaq, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, International Business Times, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Barron’s, Benzinga, and many other major publications.

A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Lange majored in business with a particular focus on investments. He has previous experience in the banking industry and startups.