VMware (VMW) late Tuesday reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings, but the virtualization software maker gave a weak revenue outlook for Q1 and 2015. VMware stock fell 6% to 75.75 in the stock market today. VMware shares are at their lowest levels since July 2013. In the quarter, the leading provider of server virtualization software reported earnings per share minus items of $1.08, up 6.9% from the year-earlier period. Analysts
2015 could be the year of the spinoff, with eBay (EBAY), Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) and others spinning off divisions to unlock shareholder value, according to the Edge Consulting Group. E-commerce company eBay plans to spin off its digital payments unit PayPal as a separate public company next year. And HP plans to split into two publicly traded entities. One company will be devoted to servers, software and cloud technology, while the other will focus on HP’s traditional PC and printer businesses. Meanwhile, Symantec (SYMC) plans to split into two companies as well, with one focused on security and another on information management. In a report Monday, Edge Consulting Group suggested two other potential spinoffs involving Amazon.com (AMZN) and EMC (EMC). In October, hedge fund manager Elliott Management urged data storage company EMC to spin off its majority-owned VMware (VMW). “EMC and VMware have grown and are now competing…
VMware’s disappointing Q4 guidance late Tuesday sparked downgrades and price target reductions. VMware’s (VMW) mixed bag of results comes as its parent company, EMC (EMC), a storage software leader, said early Wednesday that it is planning to buy a bigger stake in VCE, its partnership with Cisco Systems (CSCO), which sells storage, virtualization and networking products. Cisco’s stake will now be 10% instead of 35%. EMC owns 80% of VMware, which