Seeking Alpha: Absent Product Revenue Growth, What Drives F5 Networks?

Wanting to like a stock is always dangerous, and that's the position I find myself in with F5 Networks (NASDAQ:FFIV). While I do believe that demand for application delivery controllers (or ADCs) is on the wane and likely to push market growth into the single digits, I also believe that the company has a significant opportunity in attaching security products and pursuing SDN/NFV and diameter signaling revenues.

The problem is identifying what's going to drive a meaningful improvement in the value proposition and/or investor sentiment. The shares look only slightly undervalued on the basis of 7% to 8% long-term growth and the company likely needs to generate double-digit product revenue growth again to get a real tailwind behind the shares. I continue to believe that F5 is a high-quality company that is not overvalued, but it's more difficult to argue that this is a must-own stock today.

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Absent Product Revenue Growth, What Drives F5 Networks?

Investopedia: Another Revision Doesn't Make It Easier To Like Juniper

I thought that 2013 could be the year where long-suffering stocks like Ciena (Nasdaq:CIEN) and Juniper (NYSE:JNPR) earned a little love from the Street. So far that hasn't been the case, though Cisco (Nasdaq:CSCO) and Ericsson (Nasdaq:ERIC) have shown some signs of life.

The real question for Juniper remains what it has been for some time now – can the company take/regain share from companies like Cisco and Alcatel Lucent (NYSE:ALU) in routing, gain share in switching, and stabilize the security business? Although carrier spending has been looking and sounding a little better, another downward revision in Juniper's guidance makes it harder to step up and take a chance with this stock.

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Seeking Alpha: Would Check Point Be Better If It Was Just A Little Worse?

It's hard to find many companies that post better-looking financials than security specialist Check Point Software (CHKP). While this company boasts significant market share, impressive financials, and very strong technology, it does come up short in one of the most critical metrics for tech stocks - top-line growth. With Wall Street already expecting little from this company going forward, it may be worth management's time to consider trading some margin or cash on the balance sheet for a better shot at stronger growth numbers.

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Would Check Point Be Better If It Was Just A Little Worse?

Investopedia: Avago Still Looking Like A Solid GARP Idea

There haven't been too many semiconductor earnings reports over the past few months where investors came away happy, but Avago (Nasdaq:AVGO) seems like a real exception. But then, exceptional performance is not really a new feature of the Avago story. While even more exposure to the Apple (Nasdaq:AAPL) roller coaster could introduce more volatility into these shares, the combination of solid technology, proprietary products, market share gains and potential margin leverage make this a name worth watching, if not buying outright.

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http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2012/Avago-Still-Looking-Like-A-Solid-GARP-Idea-AVGO-AAPL-SKWS-RFMD0525.aspx

Investopedia: Acme Packet Another Company Waiting On The Carrier Revival

There's a long list of companies out there where investors are hoping that carriers finally get back to spending this year, a list that includes Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE:ALU), Adtran (Nasdaq:ADTN), Juniper (NYSE:JNPR) and Acme Packet (Nasdaq:APKT). While Acme Packet enjoys good share in the session border controller market (SBC) and ought to benefit from adoption and migration to Voice over LTE (VoLTE) and IMS, bears argue that competitors and alternative technologies will steal much of that potential.

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http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2012/Acme-Packet-Another-Company-Waiting-On-The-Carrier-Revival-APKT-JNPR-ALU-ADTN0507.aspx

Investopedia: New Products Need To Carry Juniper Back

Tech hardware is all over the map right now, with investors still quite pleased with F5 (Nasdaq:FFIV), relatively comfortable with Cisco (Nasdaq:CSCO), and increasingly down on Riverbed (Nasdaq:RVBD) and Juniper (NYSE:JNPR). The story with Juniper is an interesting one, as this company looks for a revival in carrier spending and new products to return the company to its familiar ground as a growth company.

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http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2012/New-Products-Need-To-Carry-Juniper-Back-JNPR-CSCO-FFIV-ALU0427.aspx

Investopedia: Service Providers Disconnect Juniper's Momentum

While tech stocks often trade in tandem when there's news from the major players, not all networking is the same. In other words, the problems that Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) is now facing are not necessarily directly translatable to Cisco Systems (Nasdaq:CSCO) or smaller vendors like F5 Networks (Nasdaq:FFIV) and Riverbed Technology (Nasdaq:RVBD). For Juniper, as for Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE:ALU) and Acme Packet (Nasdaq:APKT), the story today is about weak spending in North America from the large service providers. (For more, see Earning Forecasts: A Primer.)

A Disappointing End to the Year  
Juniper announced January 9, 2012, that fourth quarter results were not going to meet Wall Street expectations. Instead of the average estimates of $1.19 billion in revenue and 34 cents in earnings, Juniper announced that results were going to be on the order of $1.11 billion to $1.12 billion and 26 cents to 28 cents.

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http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2012/Service-Providers-Disconnect-Junipers-Momentum-JNPR-CSCO-FFIV-HPQ-ALU0111.aspx