QLogic Qloses Quiet Quarter

QLogic Corp. (Nasdaq: QLGC) today became the first storage vendor to officially announce earnings this quarter, and it provided more evidence that storage companies had a rough time selling over the last three months.

QLogic barely hit its revenue guidance and missed analysts expectations, reporting net revenues of $129.8 million and net income of $34 million, or $0.36 earnings per share. The revenue rose 3 percent from the same quarter last year and 1 percent from the previous quarter. Net income was up 1 percent over last year and down 2 percent from last quarter.

Still, the lack of an outright disaster may have given investors a feelng of relief. Qlogic shares were trading up $1.04 (4.24%) to $25.54 in after-hours trading.

Two weeks ago QLogic said it would hit its previous guidance range of $128 million to $132 million despite problems other storage vendors were experiencing (see Emulex Hits the Deck). However, the company fell below the First Call revenues estimate of $130.3 million while meeting the EPS target.

For guidance, QLogic CEO H.K. Desai had forecast $129.8 million in $134.9 million in revenue and $0.34 to $0.37 EPS for next quarter. That includes an expected loss of about $3 million because of a transition to a hub-based inventory model by one of its major OEMs. The high end of the guidance matches analysts’ expectations.