Juniper Networks profits plummeted 80% in the last three months, according to the company's latest financial results.
In its third quarter results announcement, Juniper blamed the drastic decline from $83.7m to $16.8m on "restructuring," although it remained tight-lipped about the exact measures it was taking.
However, Juniper has confirmed the slashing of 500 jobs, equating to between 4% and 5% of its global workforce.
A statement to our sister title SearchNetworking, back in September, revealed the roles would "fall across our support functions, including supply chain, procurement, SG&A [selling, general and administrative expenses], as well as R&D."
We contacted Juniper for further details of the restructuring, but it had not returned our request at the time of publication.
Our outlook reflects our customers' continued caution in their investment decisions in what continues to be a challenging environment
Juniper Networks
Despite the freefall, when it came to profits, sales remained stable for the company. Juniper recorded revenues of $1.118bn, up from $1.105bn in the same period last year, representing a modest 1% growth compared to the same quarter last year.
"Our third quarter results demonstrated a return to year-over-year revenue growth and improved operational performance," said Robyn Denholm, chief financial officer (CFO) of Juniper Networks.
"Long-term demand fundamentals for high-performance networking continue to be positive, yet customers remain cautious in the near-term environment.
"We remain focused on executing our strategy to drive revenue growth and, with our workforce restructuring largely complete, we're well prepared to capture the market opportunity ahead," Robyn Denholm added.
Despite the positive statement from its CFO, the earnings release admitted its outlook for the fourth quarter "reflects our customers' continued caution in their investment decisions."
Juniper expects revenues to remain between $1.1bn and $1.13bn.
