Juniper Networks shares tumble after lowering networking sales forecasts

Juniper Networks was hammered in late trading after releasing worse than expected results on the back of weakening networking infrastructure demand in the face of economic uncertainty.

Revenues rose nearly 15 per cent on the quarter, and two per cent on the year, to $1.1bn, but margins faced a steady decline in line with previous results from the company.

The stock market reacted badly, wiping 17 per cent off the company's value after analysts had predicted higher returns.

"A number of factors, including mixed signals in the macro economy, impacted our performance this quarter," said Kevin Johnson, chief executive at Juniper Networks.

"We are confident that our investment in innovation is generating a wave of great products that positions us well to deliver on our multi-year growth agenda."

Juniper announced yesterday that Bob Muglia, former head of server and tools at Microsoft, will join the company to run its software unit, where he joins Brad Brooks, another refugee from Redmond's management reshuffles.

"We delivered solid year-over-year growth in the June quarter. However, we saw some moderation in certain areas of the business, which resulted in revenues coming in below our expectations," said Robyn Denholm, chief financial officer at Juniper.

"We have taken decisive steps to ensure our cost structure takes into account the near-term revenue environment while preserving investments that support our multi-year growth agenda."