F5 Networks Soars as Analyst Predicts ‘Improved Performance’

Oct. 4 (Bloomberg) -- F5 Networks Inc. gained the most in almost a year after a William Blair & Co. analyst said he expects the software maker to report fourth-quarter improvement as demand for its website-performance products increases.

F5 rose $7.20, or 10 percent, to $77.63, at 4 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market trading, the most since Oct. 27, 2010. The Seattle-based company was among the top performers in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.

“After three underwhelming quarters in a row, our channel checks indicate a significantly improved performance for F5,” in the quarter ended Sept. 30, Jason Ader, an analyst with Chicago-based William Blair, wrote in a research note to clients today. He cited “materially improved demand both in the United States and abroad for F5’s application delivery controller (ADC) products, across enterprise, government, and service-provider customers.”

Ader, who rates the shares “outperform,” said he expects F5 Networks to report $310 million in revenue for the quarter, topping the average analyst estimate of $309 million from 32 analysts in a Bloomberg survey.

Sales in the fiscal third quarter ended June 30 totaled $291 million, the company reported July 20. F5 said it experienced a revenue decline in Europe and slower growth in the U.S. government in the fiscal third quarter.

James Ramsay, a company spokesman, didn’t immediately respond to a call and e-mail seeking comment.

--Editors: Niamh Ring, Donna Alvarado

To contact the reporter on this story: Xu Wang in New York at xwang206@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Tom Giles at tgiles@bloomberg.net.