What To Expect From Juniper’s Q4 Results

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) reports its Q4 earnings on January 29. We expect the company’s management to provide a confident commentary on the outlook for 2019 cloud spending and higher PTX port count, which could help offset some weakness due to pricing. We will also be keenly looking for commentary on possible issues from ongoing tariff wars.

We currently have a price estimate of $26 per share for Juniper, which is marginally lower than the current market price. Our interactive dashboard on Juniper’s Price Estimate outlines our forecasts and estimates for the company. You can modify any of the key drivers to visualize the impact of changes on its valuation.

Juniper’s management had mentioned some difficulty in calling out the timing of the cloud rollouts. The company believed that the lower price of the PTX port relative to the MX had been a major contributor of that weakness, though it was a necessary to ensure Juniper maintains its footprint. It will be interesting to note management commentary on how it sees PTX deployments shaping up, particularly how volumes could grow to compensate for the pricing differential versus the MX.

While the company had mentioned an expected impact from trade disputes, management’s outlook for how things develop in 2019 will be important for the dollar impact on the EPS. Additionally, management’s outlook on IT spending expectations will also contribute to the company’s growth outlook – especially as routers, the company’s biggest segment, is likely to continue declining. Furthermore, Juniper’s performance in security and enterprise has been a relative bright spot, with management expectations of sustained solid performance.

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