Rail Vision Ltd (RVSN)

[midastouch017]

Radware admits Q1 earnings will be half the forecast: 7 cents per share

03.4.06 | 10:42 By Shirley Yom-Tov

An announcement from an Israeli company on Wall Street on Sunday night usually does not portend well. Indeed, what Radware (Nasdaq: RDWR) had to say was not good news.

First-quarter earnings per share will be roughly half what had been expected: 7 cents per share, instead of 13 cents.

The company, which develops load-routing software for Internet traffic, did not explain the reason for the slide. Its revenue forecast was lowered by only $2.5 million, to $20 million, against it previous expectation of $22.2 million to $22.6 million.

Roy Zisapel, the company's president and chief executive, blamed lower than expected sales in the U.S., which is the company's main market, contributing more than 40% of income.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/701914.html

Merrill Lynch: Weak Q1 for Radware
Radware dropped 13% on Nasdaq on Friday.

Shiri Habib 3 Apr 06 11:21

Changes in management and the slow launch of products will mean a weak first quarter for Radware Ltd. (Nasdaq: RDWR; TASE: RDWR), states Merrill Lynch in a new survey of the company. Although Merrill Lynch kept its “Buy” recommendation for the share, the share dropped 13% on Friday, in reaction to the report. It set a target price of $23.50, 33% above Radware’s market price on Nasdaq on Friday.
Merrill Lynch analysts Tal Liani and Stanley Kovler believe that Radware will not be able to meet forecasts of $22.3 million revenue for the first quarter, and $2.7 million in net profit ($0.13 per share).

Liani and Kovler write that change in management at Radware’s US branch could be the reason for the predicted underperformance. In January, Radware replaced David Hubbard as president of Radware Inc. with Larry P. Marino, formerly a VP at AT&T (NYSE:T). Merrill Lynch states, “We believe that this transition could be one of the issues contributing to weak execution.”

Merrill Lynch adds, “As is common with product cycles, there is risk of a spending pause ahead of new product releases (App Switch 5) which may be contributing to the slow start to 2006. Other new products (e.g. SecurFlo, new DefensePro) may be off to a slower start as channel partners adapt to effectively selling these solutions.” Market demand for Radware’s application switches “remains healthy”.

Liani and Kovler predict that while Radware’s share could be weak in the short term, the company’s position will improve during the second half of 2006. They predict that Radware will post $97.1 million revenue in 2006, 25% more than in 2005, and that it will post a net profit of $14.3 million, up 54% over 2005.

Radware provides application switches for routing traffic and managing and securing network data transmission. The company has a market cap of $335 million.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on April 3, 2006

Dubi