SAN FRANCISCO (07/20/2000) - Sun Microsystems Inc. Thursday was in jubilant mood, announcing that, for the first time in its history, revenue for the company's fourth-quarter of fiscal 2000 exceeded US$5 billion.
For the three-month period ended June 30, 2000, the U.S. hardware, software and services vendor reported net income up 67 percent to reach $659.5 million on revenue up 42 percent at $5.02 billion compared with the year-ago quarter, Sun said in a statement.
"In every important metric, including market share gains, we had an incredible quarter," Sun Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Scott McNealy said in the statement. He claimed that Sun is now the number one open system server provider.
Sun's earnings per share for the fourth quarter were 39 cents, topping the 33 cents estimate of 21 analysts polled by First Call/Thomson Financial. The vendor's strong quarterly net income and earnings per share were helped by a $92.7 million net gain from special items including the sale of equity investments. Factoring in the special items, Sun recorded net income of $720.4 million and earnings per share of 42 cents.
For fiscal 2000 as a whole, Sun announced net income, excluding special items, of $1.7 billion, up 49 percent on the year-ago quarter, while revenue rose 33 percent to $15.7 billion. Earnings per share, excluding special items, were $1.02, again above the forecast of 21 analysts polled by First Call, who estimated Sun's earnings per share would be 96 cents. Including the special items such as acquisition-related charges, Sun's fiscal 2000 net income was $1.8 billion and earnings per share were $1.10.
Sun released its results after the markets closed. The company's shares ended trading Thursday at $98.06, up 4.4 percent on Wednesday's market close.
Sun, based in Palo Alto, California, can be reached at +1-650-960-1300 or via the Internet at http://www.sun.com/.