Boston, MA 10/24/2013 (wallstreetpr) – Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) has announced plans to layoff close to 3% of its workforce, effectively undoing its job growth in the previous quarter. This comes after the networks solutions company delivered better-than-expected results in its most recent quarter.
In the layoff, some 280 jobs will be cut in October according to the company’s CEO Kevin Johnson. In cutting jobs, JNPR is bracing itself for a weaker next quarter that goes below the Wall Street radar.
In the recently reported Q3 for the three months trading period ending September 30, JNPR reported earnings of $0.33 per share, exceeding what the Street wanted which was $0.31 per share. The company’s revenue also jumped over Wall Street outlook; it posted $1.19 billion against the Street’s $1.17 billion.
Having issued weaker next quarter revenue guidance, JNPR is now looking for revenue in the region of $1.2 billion and $1.23 billion. But analysts had been expecting revenue numbers from $1.23 billion. Slashing the 280 jobs is expected to save the company some dollars, though no figures have been given to this effect.
But again, trimming jobs in its ranks is a reversal considering that JNPR hired nearly 201 employees to make up a workforce of 9,714 people in the last quarter. According to the CEO Johnson, the hiring in the previous quarter was in the low cost regions such as India where the company has an R&D center. The center boasts some 2,300 employees and there are plans to swell it further.
This layoff is however not an isolated case in the industry. Cisco has been there and done it recently by slashing some $4,000 from its payroll, indicating nearly 5% lay off in the networking solutions company. These layoffs are indicative of the need by players in this industry to cushion their investors by dropping costs which might eat into the investors’ earnings.
JNPR closed $19.05 (down 6.43%) on Wednesday, October 23. It gained 0.05% in the after hours to report $19.06.
