Inktomi Meets Revised Expectations With $27.5M Loss

Inktomi reported a loss of $27.6 million on revenue of $37.5 million for its second quarter ended March 31.

The results were in line with amended guidance the company issued two weeks ago. At that time the company said it would not meet expectations, and expected to log revenue of $36 to $38 million.

Inktomi earned 22 cents were share, which was slightly higher than the 23 cents to 25 cents analysts had been anticipating.

The company, which develops caching, streaming and search infrastructure software used by Web sites and service providers, was the latest to blame sluggish technology spending for its lowered performance.

Akamai Technology on Wednesday also posted a loss, citing macroeconomic conditions. Cisco on Monday kicked off the week by warning that revenue for its current third fiscal quarter will be 30 percent down sequentially.

Despite gloomy news across the tech sector this week, Inktomi executives repeatedly sounded a muted optimistic note for upcoming quarters.

"We're pretty much at the bottom of this thing...I'm cautiously optimistic, we're starting to see solid ground beneath our feet and believe we're poised to start revenue growth in the fourth quarter independent of macroeonomics," CEO David Peterschmidt said in a conference call Wednesday afternoon.

Inktomi is gearing up to ship its content networking suite this summer, and several large hardware OEMs including Compaq and Hewlett-Packard are poised to ship new servers bundled with Inktomi software into the enterprise later this year, Peterschmidt said. That would give Inktomi better reach in new accounts, executives said.

Inktomi also said that F5 Networks will integrate Inktomi software with its EDGE-FX caching products, planning to bring them to market this summer.

Despite the 25-percent cut in workforce announced April 2, CEO David Peterschmidt said the company has "preserved the bulk of our product development efforts." R&D spending rose to $19.5 million from $17.4 million in the first quarter, said Jerry Kennelly CFO.