Citrix Profit Rises 38%; Guidance Raised, $400 Million Buyback Unveiled

   By Tess Stynes 
 

Citrix Systems Inc. (CTXS) said its fourth-quarter earnings rose 38% on better-than-expected revenue growth, and the software maker raised its 2016 earnings outlook.

The company's board also authorized the repurchase of an additional $400 million of the company's shares. As of Dec. 31, roughly $33 million remained under previous stock buyback programs.

Shares rose 1.7% to $67 in recent after-hours trading as per-share earnings, excluding certain one-time items, and revenue beat expectations. The company also issued first-quarter guidance mostly above Wall Street views.

For 2016, it raised its adjusted per-share earnings estimate to $4.65 to $4.75, from its previous estimate for per-share profit of $4.40 to $4.50.

For the current quarter, the company forecast adjusted per-share earnings of 91 cents to 93 cents and revenue of $785 million to $790 million. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected per-share profit of 90 cents and revenue of $786 million.

The Santa Clara, Calif., company makes workplace software that allows employees to work from their own desktops or mobile devices off a centralized data center, which is known as virtualization.

Citrix said in November it plans to spin off part of its meetings business into a new public company, cut jobs and slash costs, months after activist investor Elliott Management Corp. called for change at the software firm. Citrix plans to spin off its GoTo business, which includes the GoTo Meeting software that allows users to connect to business meetings from many devices.

Overall, Citrix reported a profit of $131.3 million, or 84 cents a share, up from $95.2 million, or 58 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding stock-based compensation, restructuring-related expenses, spinoff related expenses and other items, per-share earnings rose to $1.66 from $1.10. Revenue increased 6.3% to $904.8 million.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected per-share profit of $1.19 and revenue of $877 million.

Write to Tess Stynes at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 27, 2016 17:32 ET (22:32 GMT)

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