SonicWall Suffers 2Q Loss
Sunnyvale, Calif.-based SonicWall lost $3.4 million, or 5 cents per share, for its 2006 second quarter, down from earnings of $1.2 million, or 2 cents per share, a year earlier. However, revenue for the quarter jumped 32 percent year over year to $43.8 million, from $33 million. Second-quarter revenue also rose 10 percent from first-quarter sales of $39.8 million.
SonicWall President and CEO Matt Medeiros said costs from the stock option program and certain tax obligations tugged at SonicWall's bottom line for the second quarter. During the period, stock options were cashed in to the tune of about $2.1 million, the company said. The remaining authorized amount for stock repurchases under the option program is $41.3 million, according to SonicWall.
Still, the second quarter represented a "significant milestone" in the transformation of SonicWall from a niche firewall maker to a broader industry solution provider, Medeiros said. SonicWall is about halfway to its goal of becoming a comprehensive network technology solutions vendor, and the effort could take another three years or so, he added.
"It was critical for SonicWall to become more than just a firewall company," Medeiros noted.
SonicWall sells 100 percent of its products through solution providers, according to Medeiros. During the earnings Webcast Wednesday morning, he emphasized the importance of SonicWall's channel partners to the company's continued success.
SonicWall's network security products fueled second-quarter revenue, followed by e-mail security products and backup and failover solutions, Medeiros said.
Looking ahead, SonicWall projected third-quarter revenue of $43.8 million to $44.8 million.