Tag Archives: request

FireEye CEO Steps Down As Outlook Lags; Kevin Mandia Takes Over

FireEye ( FEYE ) CEO David DeWalt is stepping down, replaced by Mandiant founder Kevin Mandia, the cybersecurity firm announced late Thursday as it reported Q1 sales that missed Wall Street views and gave consensus-lagging Q2 guidance. Mandiant President Travis Reese will take up that mantle at FireEye, and FireEye CFO Mike Berry was named chief operating officer in addition to his current role. DeWalt will become executive chairman of the FireEye board. “With these leadership announcements, FireEye has moved to solidify our position in the market today and more importantly, prepare us for growth opportunities going forward,” DeWalt said in a statement. FireEye acquired incident-response company Mandiant in 2014, and its founder was groomed inside FireEye. Mandia has served as FireEye senior vice president and COO, and was named to the board in 2015. In after-hours trading, after FireEye posted earnings and announced the CEO change, FireEye stock was down 8%. Shares fell 1.3% in the regular session. Shares are down 23% this year, following the recent acquisitions of iSight Partners and Invotas. For Q1, FireEye reported $168 million in sales, up 34% year over year, and a 47-cent per-share loss minus items, shrinking by a penny vs. last year’s losses. Analysts had modeled a 50-cent per-share loss, so the bottom line beat, but they expected sales of $171.8 million. Billings ex items of $186 million topped the high end of FireEye’s three-months-ago guidance for $163 million to $183 million. Current-quarter guidance for $178 million to $185 million in sales and a 38-cent to 40-cent per-share loss ex items missed the consensus of 35 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters for $192.8 million and 36 cents losses. Sales would rise 23% at the midpoint. For Q2, FireEye expects $200 million to $215 million billings minus items, up 16% year over year.

Apple Recruits SAP To Help Sell iPads, iPhones To Companies

Apple ( AAPL ) on Thursday announced a partnership with German business software firm SAP ( SAP ) to push iPads and iPhones deeper into enterprises. The deal follows similar partnerships with IBM ( IBM ) and Cisco Systems ( CSCO ), which were struck over the last two years. “This partnership will transform how iPhone and iPad are used in enterprise by bringing together the innovation and security of iOS with SAP’s deep expertise in business software,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a statement . “As the leader in enterprise software and with 76% of business transactions touching an SAP system, SAP is the ideal partner to help us truly transform how businesses around the world are run on iPhone and iPad.” Apple and SAP aim to create new mobile work experiences for enterprise customers of all sizes that combine native apps for the iPhone and iPad with the capabilities of SAP’s HANA platform. As part of the partnership, SAP will develop native iOS apps for critical business operations. Apple hopes enterprise applications for tablets can revive iPad sales, which have been in a prolonged slump. In the March quarter, iPad unit sales and revenue fell 19% year over year. In late-afternoon trading in the stock market today , Apple stock was down 1.2%, near 93, while SAP stock was down a fraction, near 77.

3D Systems Earnings Show Ongoing Struggle In 3D Printer Market

3D Systems ( DDD ) missed with its Q1 revenue posted early Thursday, its third straight quarter of year-over-year declines in sales, as the 3D printer market resets expectations. Before the open, 3D Systems reported Q1 revenue of $152.5 million, down 5% year over year and missing the consensus of $156.3 million. Excluding the contribution of consumer products and services that the company no longer sells, revenue fell 2%. The company posted flat earnings per share minus items of 5 cents. 3D Systems stock was down nearly 6%, near 14, in afternoon trading in the stock market today , and it touched a seven-week low. Vyomesh Joshi, named CEO last month, sees big market opportunities ahead. “I’ve spent the past month listening to and learning from customers, partners and employees,” commented Joshi said. “I will be focusing on improving quality, reliability and supply chain. The next phase for us is to develop a strategy to drive profitable growth with operational excellence and an appropriate cost structure.” Joshi had been executive vice president of the imaging and printing business of HP Inc. ( HPQ ), formerly part of Hewlett-Packard before its split. HP plans to enter the 3D printer market this year. In the company’s earnings conference call, 3D Systems CFO David Styka said demand for professional 3D printers remained soft last quarter. Revenue from professional printers excluding desktop decreased 23%, on a 50% decline in unit sales. “The decrease in units was partially due to the availability gaps for new MultiJet Printers rolled out during the first quarter,” he said. CEO Joshi, on the call, repeated several times he was in a learning mode, but optimistic ahead. “The other important part that I am learning and that’s the vertical approach where we want to go after health care, aerospace, automobile, and also higher education,” he said, “because, if you think about the universities, we need to get a lot of people trained in understanding the 3D market.” 3D Systems did not give earnings guidance. It and and Stratasys ( SSYS ) are the two largest providers of 3D printers. Stratasys is set to report earnings before the market open Monday. Its shares were down nearly 3% Thursday afternoon. 3D printer makers ExOne ( XONE ) and Voxeljet ( VJET ) are set to report earnings on May 11 and May 13, respectively, both before the market open. Needham analyst James Ricchiuti last week lowered his rating on 3D Systems to hold from buy, “as shares might be pricing in too much,” he wrote. “Notwithstanding solid sequential improvement in Q4 from the publicly traded 3D printing companies, we believe business remains challenging, compounded by the normal seasonal weakness experienced in the March quarter,” Ricchiuti wrote.