Riverbed Soars After Reiterating Annual Sales Estimates

July 25 (Bloomberg) -- Riverbed Technology Inc., a maker of computer-networking products, gained the most in almost six years after saying the company remains on track to post annual revenue 15 percent higher than a year earlier.

Riverbed advanced (RVBD) 26 percent to $18.28 at 10:00 a.m. in New York, after reaching $19.13 for the biggest jump since September 2006. The San Francisco-based company’s shares had dropped 38 percent this year through yesterday.

Riverbed, which creates technology to help customers keep their software in far-flung data centers more efficiently, has benefited from the growth of cloud computing. Yesterday, it announced a $75 million deal with Juniper Networks Inc. (JNPR), which will license the company’s products to boost application performance.

Full-year revenue will increase about 15 percent from a year earlier, the company said yesterday. The average analyst estimate was for a jump of about 12 percent from 2011 sales of $726.5 million, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

“That 15 percent number is achievable, assuming the economy holds out,” Randy Gottfried, the company’s chief financial officer, said on a conference call with analysts yesterday after the company reported second-quarter earnings. “But we’ll see. Again, we’re focused quarter-on-quarter.”

Profit in the second quarter excluding some items totaled 23 cents a share, according to a statement. Analysts projected 21 cents, the average of analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

To contact the reporter on this story: Niamh Ring in New York at nring@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Kevin Miller at kmiller@bloomberg.net