Data storage company EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC) said Tuesday its fourth-quarter earnings jumped 61 percent, boosted by the continued growth of technology spending.
That’s good news for the Massachusetts-based firm, which maintains a growing presence in the Research Triangle Park area with manufacturing and research-and-development operations.
As corporations have started replacing old equipment and software again, EMC says it is also benefiting from the shift to so-called “cloud” computing, in which software and data are stored on remote servers rather than in-house machines.
It was the fifth straight quarter of earnings growth for EMC.
“EMC’s performance in 2010 was the best in company history, marked by rapid growth, market share gains, financial leverage and significant investment in technology innovation,” said Joe Tucci, EMC’s chairman and chief executive officer, in a statement.
“The platform for change in the IT industry has arrived with the biggest opportunity residing at the intersection of trusted cloud computing, enterprise data and ‘Big Data.’ Equipped with the strongest, most distinctive product and services portfolio and strategic partners, we have never been more confident in EMC’s position to lead this transformational shift to IT as a service,” he added.
The earnings report came just a week after EMC also announced a host of new products for 2011.
Watch a video about the new products here.
Read about the product rollout here.
NetApp, one of its primary rivals in networked storage, also has a major campus in RTP.
“In 2010 we executed our triple play impressively – simultaneously taking market share, reinvesting meaningfully in our business and delivering improved profitability,” said EMC Chief Financial Officer David Goulden.
“Tremendous progress on all of these objectives throughout the year puts EMC in its best financial and operational shape ever,” he added. “We are in great position to continue to deliver our triple play results in 2011; continue to achieve solid double-digit revenue and profit growth, expand operating margins and grow free cash flow for the year; and further strengthen EMC’s strategic position for the long term.”
The company says it earned $628.6 million, or 29 cents per share, in the last three months of 2010. That’s up from $390.6 million, or 19 cents per share, in the same quarter a year ago.
Excluding special items, EMC says it earned 42 cents, edging out by a penny the consensus estimates of analysts surveyed by FactSet.
Revenue climbed 19 percent to $4.9 billion from $4.1 billion. Analysts expected $4.8 billion.
The company’s 2011 adjusted earnings-per-share forecast of $1.46 also topped analyst forecasts by a penny. The company’s revenue expectation of around $19 billion is about in line with Wall Street.
Read the earnings report here.
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