Shares of Riverbed Technology Inc. surged in premarket trading Wednesday after the software maker said it swung to a first-quarter profit as sales tripled.
The company on Tuesday reported adjusted net income of 5 cents per share, versus a loss of 36 cents per share in the comparable quarter of 2006. Adjusted for one-time items, the company posted adjusted income of 12 cents per share. Sales rose to $42.8 million from $13.7 million. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial had expected income of 5 cents per share on revenue of $38 million.
Riverbed Technology, which serves 1,600 customers, sells software that helps improve the networks that link computers. The software helps customers organize data better and make their networks run faster.
"Solid execution and strong management have positioned the company to capitalize on the growing need for secure and reliable access to remote applications, one of the fastest-growing segments in the technology market," Lazard Capital Markets analyst Joel Fishbein wrote in a client note.
BMO Capital Markets analyst Steven Freitas said businesses and government agencies want Riverbed Technology's products, and few software makers can compete with the company effectively. He called Riverbed "the fastest-growing and perhaps the most visionary" software maker addressing products that optimize applications on networks.
"Riverbed is flourishing against the backdrop of strong customer demand and benign competition," he said.
Shares of Riverbed Technology leaped $3.22, or 11.4 percent, to $31.50 in premarket trading Wednesday. The stock closed at $28.28 Tuesday on the Nasdaq Stock Market, where it has ranged from $13.60 to $36.25 over the past year.
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