Riverbed Technology Shares Popped: What You Need to Know

Updated

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: After suffering sell-off after sell-off over the past quarter, Riverbed Technology (NAS: RVBD) is finally rewarding the faithful today. Shares of the company, which specializes in equipment for moving data faster across a network, rallied more than 11% in early trading on heavy volume.

So what: Recent pessimism seemed linked to dour reports from rivals such as Blue Coat Systems (NAS: BCSI) . Last night, Riverbed left little doubt that it's in a different class than those peers. Third-quarter revenue soared 29% to $191 million, while adjusted profits rose 41% to $0.24 a share. Analysts had been calling for $185.3 million and $0.21, respectively, according to data aggregated by Yahoo! Finance.

Now what: Riverbed also expanded its share of the market for application acceleration equipment to 51.7% -- an 11.4-percentage-point gain over the past year, according to data from Gartner. And during last night's earnings call, business development chief Eric Wofford told analysts that more than 50% of Riverbed's sales during the quarter were "unopposed," meaning neither Cisco (NAS: CSCO) nor Blue Coat were considered. Combine the two metrics and you've got a business that's apparently so far ahead of peers that customers ignore alternatives. A true Rule Breaker, in other words. Do you agree? Would you buy shares of Riverbed Technology at current prices? Please weigh in using the comments box below.

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At the time thisarticle was published Fool contributor Tim Beyers is a member of theMotley Fool Rule Breakersstock-picking team. He didn't own shares in any of the companies mentioned at the time of publication. Check out Tim's portfolio holdings and Foolish writings, or connect with him on Google+ or Twitter, where he goes by @milehighfool. You can also get his insights delivered directly to your RSS reader.The Motley Fool owns shares of Cisco. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of Riverbed Technology and Cisco Systems. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended writing puts in Riverbed Technology. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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