VMware bucks recession with strong Q4

VMware generated $515m in revenues during the fourth quarter

Virtualisation software maker VMware has beaten analyst estimates and posted a 25 per cent increase in fourth-quarter revenues as well as higher profits.

Proving that cost-efficient server and desktop consolidation is something of a recession-proof product, VMware generated $515m (£366m) in revenues, up from $412m (£293m) last year and beating analyst estimates of $512m (£364m).

The firm's fourth-quarter net income reached $111m (£78m), or 29 cents per share, up from $78m (£55m), or 19 cents a share, in the same period in 2007.

On a non-GAAP basis, VMware's net income increased to $141m (£100m), or 36 cents per share, up from $102m (£72m), or 26 cents per share, the previous year. According to Thomson Reuters, financial analysts had expected earnings of 26 cents a share.

However, despite coming in ahead of Wall Street expectations, VMware shares fell by 3.17 per cent in after-hours trading last night when the firm failed to offer a fiscal forecast for 2009, citing market uncertainty.

VMware warned that the credit crisis made it difficult for the firm to predict its performance over the coming year, and has limited itself to predicting only its first-quarter revenues for 2009, which it forecasts will come in at approximately $475m (£337m).