How Can Riverbed Turn It Around in 2013?

Across the past year, Riverbed is down 26%, which trails the Nasdaq by a whopping 41 percentage points. Worse yet, 2012 was an incredibly volatile year for the company that saw a 50% sell-off from mid-April to mid-July.

In the video below, senior tech analyst Eric Bleeker talks about what can move Riverbed forward in 2013. He notes that across enterprise tech, growth companies with high P/Es have been sold off. As long as there's broad macroeconomic worries -- we're now moving onto the debt ceiling as the next concern -- they will continue to be an anchor on growth stocks, which rely on enterprise spending.

As far as Riverbed itself, Eric notes that the company has to more to prove in 2013 if it is to return to P/E levels seen in the past. Specifically, the company's acquisition of Opnet left many investors wondering if the company was chasing growth through acquisitions. Last quarter Riverbed posted sequential 12% growth in products revenue, but will be under the microscope in showing growth in WAN optimization this year to prove it wasn't buying new growth avenues with its Opnet purchase. To see Eric's full thoughts, watch the video below.

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The article How Can Riverbed Turn It Around in 2013? originally appeared on Fool.com.

Austin Smith has no position in any stocks mentioned. Eric Bleeker, CFA owns shares of Cisco Systems. The Motley Fool recommends Cisco Systems and Riverbed Technology. The Motley Fool owns shares of 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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