Network Computing is part of the Informa Tech Division of Informa PLC

This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Informa PLC and all copyright resides with them. Informa PLC's registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. Registered in England and Wales. Number 8860726.

MTI Is Back

MTI Technology Corp. (Nasdaq: MTIC) has been in business nearly as long as there's been storage (well, since 1987 anyway). And it looks as though the maker of high-end storage arrays may be turning another page in its history.

With a new caching appliance and a hardware-based replication product, MTI is finally emerging from a long period of stagnation following the loss of its dotcom business (see MTI Technology).

The positive signs are visible in the companys gently climbing stock price, up from $0.68 a month ago to $2.25 at the close of market Tuesday. MTI officials say it's a sign of better times ahead. “We are a good indicator of what’s about to happen in the market,” says Russ Ritchie, director of product marketing at MTI. “Our revenues go down before everyone else’s, and up before everyone else’s.”

MTI reported a 10 percent revenue increase for its fiscal second quarter, ended October 6, compared to its first quarter. It still lost $2.7 million, or $0.08 per share, compared to a net loss of $2.1 million, or $0.07 per share, for the same quarter a year ago. But there are signs of improvement. Its operating loss decreased dramatically to $3.4 million, a 67.6 percent sequential improvement.

New products and a steadily growing professional services organization (75 people in the U.S., 25 in Europe, or twice the number from a year ago) are driving these improvements in performance, Ritchie says.

  • 1