NetApp posts higher 1st-quarter profit, names Tom Georgens new CEO

NetApp posts higher 1Q profit, names new CEO

SUNNYVALE, Calif. — Data storage company NetApp Inc. said Wednesday its fiscal first-quarter profit grew even as revenue inched lower, as proceeds from the cancellation of its failed buyout of Data Domain helped boost results.

The company also named Tom Georgens as president and CEO, replacing Dan Warmenhoven, effective immediately. The company said the transition is “the result of a management succession process.”

For the quarter ended July 31, NetApp earned $51.7 million, or 15 cents per share, up 49 percent form $34.7 million, or 10 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier.

Adjusted earnings were 22 cents per share in the latest quarter.

Revenue fell 4 percent to $838 million from $868.8 million.

Analysts, on average, were expecting a profit of 20 cents per share on sales of $828.3 million, according to a survey by Thomson Reuters. Analysts typically exclude one-time items from their estimates.

“Given the economic backdrop, NetApp performed well in the first quarter,” Georgens said in a statement.

The quarter’s operating expenses were lower than in the year-ago period, helped by proceeds from the termination of the Data Domain deal.

Shares fell 94 cents, or 4.1 percent, to $21.95 in after-hours trading. The stock had closed up 4 cents at $22.89.