Infinera revenues improve in 4Q12 and fiscal 2012

Buoyed by the success of its DTN-X packet optical transport and switching platform, Infinera Corp. (NASDAQ: INFN) reported sequential increases in revenue for both the fourth quarter of 2012 as well as for the year as a whole. And management believes this year should see even better performance.

Infinera reported 4Q12 GAAP revenues of $128.1 million versus $112.2 million in the third quarter of 2012 and $112 million in the year ago quarter. GAAP gross margins for the fourth quarter were 34%, down from the third quarter’s 37% and the 40% enjoyed in 4Q11. GAAP net loss was $16.1 million ($0.14 per share), better than the $19.1 million ($0.17 per share) net loss suffered during the previous quarter and the $19.4 million ($0.18 per share) lost in the year-ago quarter.

“Our fourth quarter results reflected solid execution of our growth strategy and represented a strong finish to a productive year for Infinera,” said Tom Fallon, Infinera’s president and chief executive officer, via a press release. “Our DTN-X continues to gain traction and to date, we have purchase commitments from 22 customers, including seven new to Infinera. These customers represent a broad cross section of our market segments. Revenue from the DTN-X platform continues to ramp.

“During the fourth quarter, we were pleased to announce our first domestic Tier 1 backbone deployment with CenturyLink. We have also successfully completed the OSMINE certification process, another key milestone in demonstrating our U.S. Tier 1 readiness. Our ability to fully service global Tier 1 customers essentially doubles our addressable market. We also added four new DTN customers during the quarter for a total of 111 customers worldwide,” Fallon added.

For the year, GAAP revenues were $438.4 million, an increase over the $404.9 million earned in 2011. GAAP gross margins for the year were 36% compared to 41% in 2011. GAAP net loss for 2012 was $85.3 million ($0.77 per share), a bit worse than the $81.7 million ($0.78 per share) lost in 2011.

“We are optimistic about the outlook for 2013,” Fallon continued. “Interest in our unique 100G converged DWDM/OTN switching solution remains strong, resulting in significant trial activity, which has helped us build a strong pipeline into 2013.”

However, that strong pipeline won’t send revenue gushing into the corporate coffers immediately. With the first calendar quarter’s usual slow start in mind, Infinera management guided revenues downward to between $115 million and $125 million. Placing a positive spin on the guidance, they noted that this range represents a 12% improvement over their 1Q12 revenues. That said, managemet told participants in an analyst call that the company should see 10% to 20% growth this year.

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