Overland 2Q Revenue, Earnings Fall

Revenue for the quarter, which ended December 31, was $62.5 million, compared to $67.8 million for the same period last year. Earnings were $2.6 million, or 18 cents per share, down from last year's $3.5 million, or 24 cents per share.

Worldwide revenue from Overland's branded tape and disk backup appliances rose 20 percent over the comparable quarter last year, Christopher Calisi, president and CEO, told CRN after Thursday's earnings call.That growth could not make up for the hit the San Diego-based company took in the United States, however.

Calisi attributed that softness to two reasons: First, many customers deferred their tape library purchases until the arrival of the new LTO-3 tape drives. Second, many companies also held off tape library purchases as they considered disk-based backup appliances, like Overland's Reo family.

Calisi said tape library sales for the third quarter have begun to bounce back, owing to the availability of LTO-3 drives. For the third quarter, Calisi said he expects Reo sales to hit $5 million, up from $2.8 million in the second quarter.

Calisi said 60 percent of Overland's sales come through OEMs. Overland-branded units shipping through the channel account for the remainder. "Our goal is 50-50," he said. "We've been moving in that direction."

For the third fiscal quarter of 2005, Overland said it expects revenue of about $62 million, with pro forma earnings of 17 cents to 19 cents a share.