Ahead of the Bell: Juniper

NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of Juniper Networks Inc. rose before Friday's opening bell after the computer network equipment maker reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter results and issued a solid outlook for the current period.

Juniper said late Thursday that its fourth-quarter profit jumped 59 percent to $151.8 million, or 30 cents per share. Excluding one-time items, the company posted an adjusted profit of 43 cents per share.

Revenue rose 12 percent to $1.27 billion.

Analysts, on average, expected a profit of 37 cents per share on $1.22 billion in revenue, according to FactSet.

The company also said it expects demand in the networking industry to remain healthy in 2014. It projected a first-quarter profit of between 27 cents and 30 cents per share on $1.12 billion to $1.16 billion in revenue.

Analysts expect a profit of 29 cents per share on $1.14 billion in revenue.

Janney Capital markets analyst Bill Choi backed his "Buy" rating for the stock and increased his fair value estimate by $1 to $31. He noted that many of the company's businesses contributed to the strong quarterly results, adding that the first-quarter guidance looks "conservative" given the company's strong bookings and backlog.

Meanwhile, Jefferies analyst George Notter backed his "Hold" rating, but boosted his price target by $4.25 to $25.50. He said that while the company's results were strong and its outlook is solid, he thinks the company's shares are fairly valued.

In premarket trading, Juniper shares rose $1.39, or 5.3 percent, to $27.40. Its shares are up almost 21 percent in the past year through Thursday's close.