NetApp Breaks the $1 Billion Mark in Stellar Q3 Report

Well, this might be a sign of better times ahead, we all hope. NetApp, the market’s second-largest independent storage-only company, reported in its quarterly earnings conference call Feb. 17 that it has washed the awful 2009 out of its system and is back in the sunlight of black ink. [Just having a little fun with literary dichotomy there …]

After his company lost a bidding war last summer with EMC to take over Data Domain, new CEO Tom Georgens admitted he was disappointed, but he also said that NetApp would redouble its efforts to service its own customers and find lots of new ones. That obviously happened in the second half of 2009.

Due to higher-than-expected sales in its fiscal Q3 ended Jan. 29, 2010, NetApp’s revenue jumped to $1.1.billion — a whopping 35.5 percent revenue increase from a year ago, when the company actually lost a bundle [a net loss of $81.6 million, or 25 cents a share]. Some turnaround!

In another good-news note, NetApp cleared the $1 billion mark for the first time in its nearly 20-year history. The market responded nicely, moving the stock up almost 3 percent to $33 in after-hours trading, following the late-afternoon report.

Congrats to all NetAppians on the good work, in spite of lingering cruddy economic times. Look for an interview with Georgens soon here at eWEEK to explain all this stuff.