Overland Storage Announces Fiscal 2005 First Quarter Results

Overland Storage Announces Fiscal 2005 First Quarter Results
Results Exceed Expectations 


SAN DIEGO, Oct. 26  /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Overland Storage, Inc.
(NASDAQ:OVRL) today announced results for its fiscal 2005 first quarter ended
Sept. 30, 2004, with better than anticipated results supported by new product
introductions and strong market demand for its branded backup and recovery
solutions.

Revenue for the fiscal 2005 first quarter was $59.5 million compared with $56.6
million for the same period last year.  Net income for the first quarter was
$1.9 million, or $0.13 per diluted share, compared with $2.2 million, or $0.16
per diluted share, for the fiscal 2004 first quarter.  Earnings per diluted
share were based on 14,571,000 and 14,178,000 shares outstanding in fiscal 2005
and 2004, respectively.

"Though our fiscal first quarter typically exhibits a seasonal slowdown,
particularly in Europe, results for the period this year benefited from strong
sales to major account customers both in Europe and APAC and from new product
introductions," said Christopher Calisi, president and chief executive officer.

Overland's branded revenue was up 19 percent over the prior year quarter, with
double digit contributions from each geographic sector.  Sales in the Americas
grew 14 percent over the same period, EMEA was up 22 percent and APAC 21
percent.  Total OEM sales were off slightly from the first quarter of 2004, but
up sequentially compared to the fiscal 2004 fourth quarter.

Calisi noted that profitability for the quarter was impacted by increased
expense levels, though expenses were not as high as originally planned.  As
expected, the company significantly increased its investment in research and
development reflecting product extensions of both its REO and NEO lines.  Due
to delayed spending plans, sales and marketing expenses were essentially flat
compared to both the prior year and preceding quarter.  The combination of
higher sales and lower spending resulted in per share earnings that were double
the company's earlier guidance.

"I am especially pleased with the steep ramp of REO, with unit sales growing 78
percent sequentially over the fourth quarter of 2004," Calisi said. He further
highlighted the July introduction of Overland's REO 1000, a one terabyte
product designed as a cost-effective alternative to entry-level tape
autoloaders.  In addition, he noted the introduction in late September of the
REO 9000, a 9.6 terabyte appliance designed to address the backup and recovery
needs of larger organizations.  "Both of these new products complement our
strategy to focus on the mid-market, and offer innovative and cost-effective
data protection solutions," Calisi added.

Forward Guidance

The company issued guidance of $69 million in revenue and net income of $0.20
per diluted share for the fiscal 2005 second quarter, which is historically the
company's strongest quarter.  Operating expenses for the second quarter will
include the annual reseller conference, held in early October, as well as
anticipated increases in sales and marketing to support new products.

For fiscal 2005 the company confirmed its earlier guidance of revenue growth of
10 percent, and earnings per diluted share growth of 12 percent. This outlook
does not assume any new OEM wins, although the company continues to pursue
additional OEM business.  The growth outlined above includes a significant
contribution from the REO product line.  Additionally, the company believes
gross margins will increase in fiscal 2005, reflecting higher margins from REO
compared to tape automation.

About Overland Storage

Now in its 25th year, Overland Storage continues to deliver world-class data
protection solutions designed to ensure business continuity.  Focused on backup
and recovery, Overland's data protection solutions are designed for
midrange-computer environments.  These include NEO SERIES, the award-winning
automated storage libraries that set the standard for intelligent, automated
and scalable storage, and REO SERIES, the disk-based backup and recovery
acceleration appliance.  Overland sells its products worldwide through leading
OEMs, commercial distributors, storage integrators and value-added resellers.
For more information, visit Overland's website at
http://www.overlandstorage.com/.

Except for the factual statements made herein, the information contained in
this news release consists of forward-looking statements that involve risks,
uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict.  Words and
expressions reflecting optimism and satisfaction with current prospects, as
well as words such as "believe," "intends," "expects," "plans," "anticipates"
and variations thereof, identify forward-looking statements, but their absence
does not mean that a statement is not forward looking.  Such forward-looking
statements are not guarantees of performance and the company's actual results
could differ materially from those contained in such statements.  Factors that
could cause or contribute to such differences include delays, unbudgeted
expenses, inefficiencies and production problems that may result from the
transition of manufacturing to Sanmina-SCI; difficulty of predicting sales to
the company's major OEM customer; worldwide information technology spending
levels; unexpected shortages of critical components; rescheduling or
cancellation of customer orders; loss of a major customer; the timing and
market acceptance of new product introductions by the company, including the
company's new REO products, competitors or licensees of the company; the timing
and amount of licensing royalties; general competition and price pressures in
the marketplace; the company's ability to control costs and expenses; and
general economic conditions.  Reference is also made to other factors set forth
in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including
the "Risk Factors," "Management's Discussion and Analysis" and other sections
of the company's Form 10-K for the most recently completed fiscal year.  These
forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this release and the
company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking
statements to reflect new information, events or circumstances after the date
of this release.

Overland, Overland Storage, REO SERIES, NEO SERIES, REO 1000 and REO 9000 are
trademarks or registered trademarks of Overland Storage, Inc.

Webcast:  A live audio Webcast of Overland's management conference call
discussing first quarter 2005 results and the 2005 outlook will be held
beginning at 10:30 a.m. EDT, Oct. 26, 2004, and will be posted at
http://www.overlandstorage.com/.  Please provide adequate time to log on. 
Following the broadcast, the conference call will be archived for future access
on Overland's Web site.

   CONTACT INFORMATION:
   Vernon A. LoForti, CFO
   Email: 
   858-571-5555

   Cynthia A. Bond, Director of Corporate Communications
   Email:  
   858-571-5555


                       - Financial Tables Follow -


                           OVERLAND STORAGE, INC.
                    CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS
                    (In thousands, except per share data)

                                                      Three Months Ended
                                                        September 30,
                                                   2004              2003
                                                        (Unaudited)
   Net revenues                                  $59,526           $56,569
   Cost of revenues                               43,509            40,992
   Gross profit                                   16,017            15,577

   Operating expenses:
         Sales and marketing                       7,812             7,851
         Research and development                  2,929             1,810
         General and administrative                2,612             2,582
              Total expenses                      13,353            12,243

   Operating income                                2,664             3,334
   Interest income, net                              274                96
   Other income (loss), net                           69               (10)
   Income before income taxes                      3,007             3,420
   Income taxes                                    1,107             1,197
   Net income                                     $1,900            $2,223

   Earnings per share:
         Basic                                     $0.14             $0.17

         Diluted                                   $0.13             $0.16

   Shares used in computing
      earnings per share:
         Basic                                    14,056            12,972
         Diluted                                  14,571            14,178


                            OVERLAND STORAGE, INC.
                      SELECTED BALANCE SHEET INFORMATION
                                (In thousands)



                                              September 30,         June 30,
                                                  2004               2004
                                                       (unaudited)
   ASSETS
   Cash and equivalents                          $56,537            $58,422
   Short term investments                         16,182             11,235
   Accounts receivable, net                       34,960             31,424
   Inventories                                    20,388             16,163
   Other current assets                           10,652             11,323
      Total current assets                       138,719            128,567
   Property, plant and equipment, net              8,150              7,945
   Other assets                                    7,264              7,514
      Total assets                              $154,133           $144,026


   LIABILITIES & EQUITY
   Current liabilities                           $32,221            $25,460
   Long-term debt                                     --                 --
   Other long-term liabilities                     5,814              5,052
   Shareholders' equity                          116,098            113,514
      Total liabilities and equity              $154,133           $144,026


DATASOURCE: Overland Storage, Inc.



CONTACT:  Vernon A. LoForti, CFO, , or

Cynthia A. Bond, Director of Corporate Communications,

, both of Overland Storage, Inc., [phone]



Web site:  http://www.overlandstorage.com/

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