VMware, Inc. (NYSE:VMW), the company that provides cloud and virtualization software, just delivered strong first quarter results that were in line with expectations. The Street was expecting a revenue of $1.35 billion and VMware delivered $1.36 billion and reported earnings of $199 million. Earlier this year, VMware had acquired AirWatch, adding a mobile angle to their company, and launched virtual storage software. Before the results were released, analysts were already making recommendations to BUY and HOLD VMW. To see all analyst recommendations about VMW, download TipRanks.
Mizuho Securities USA analyst, Abhey Lamba, maintained his BUY rating as he focused on the company’s majority shareholder: EMC. Abhey expected, “slight upside to revenues and EPS”, from VMware, Inc. (NYSE:VMW), as well as from EMC Corporation (NYSE:EMC), who also recently reported their Q1 numbers. Abhey also argued that VMware is on track for contract renewals and new sales, noting: “Our checks for VMware’s renewal sign ups and attach rates of management tools came out positive. The company’s transactional business should also gain from the uptick in server spend.” Abhey is ranked 2705 out of 3017 analysts, with a -2.5% average return over S&P-500 and a 47% success rate of recommendations.
While analyst Mark Murphy, of Piper Jaffray, also found positive trends, he maintained his HOLD rating with a $111 price target. After speaking with key contacts at VMware, Inc. (NYSE:VMW), Mark cited 5 key takeaways, including “1) Partners were generally above plan in Q1, with one of the largest NA-focused VMware partners indicating that it “blew out” its goal for Q1; 2) Partners are seeing solid interest in vSAN [Software Defined Storage] and to a lesser extent in NSX [Software Defined Networking]; 3) Partners indicate that with the new version of Horizon Suite, VMware has “closed the gap” with respect to Citrix Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CTXS); and 4) a Couple of partners highlighted more transaction business than ELAs in Q1. Net/Net, the tone from VMware partners seems more constructive long-term.” Mark is ranked number 8 out of 3017 analysts, with a +11.4% average return over S&P 500 (INDEXSP:.INX) and a 77% success rate of recommendations.
Now that VMware, Inc. (NYSE:VMW)’s Q1 numbers have been revealed to the public, what will you do with your VMware shares? To continue following these analyst recommendations, as well as other analyst advice, download TipRanks, and start making informed financial decisions, with advice you can trust.
