Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

Ken Miller: Yes, I’ll take that one. So we are seeing — as you mentioned, Alex, the Product revenue does have a direct correlation to our Service revenue opportunity as our installed base gets bigger, given the pretty positive product revenue results of both 2022 and 2021, you are going to see, I believe, that have a positive impact on Services going forward. So Services is a bit of a lagging indicator. It doesn’t — is not as volatile. Typically, you won’t see as large of increases or as large of decreases as product kind of gets a little bit normalized, but trying to convert it to installed base and services. But I would expect our Services business to continue to be strong in 2023 as it has been strong in 2022. And the other thing I would point to is our margin is also quite positive in our Services business. The team has done a great job there. Not only satisfying customers and renewals, et cetera, but also really working down the costs.

Alex Henderson: The growth rate accelerated from 4% to 7% to 8%. Is that kind of high single digits, the rate we should be anticipating both in the March quarter and the year?

Ken Miller: Yes. We’re not giving specific guidance on Services, but I would say, as I mentioned, it is kind of — it’s a lagging unit care, it’s not that volatile. So I wouldn’t expect significant step function changes anytime soon. That said, maintenance business is the vast majority, but there also is a software element which is our SaaS element, which has been a big part of the growth of our services business over the last few years as more of our software revenue is getting recognized in the form of SaaS revenue.

Alex Henderson: Okay. The second question I wanted to ask is you had a very significant increase in the cloud-ready data center year-over-year in the fourth quarter. That looks like it’s somewhat of a spike versus a decline in the year ago, but nonetheless, a significant increase. Is that a function of that segment getting more of the available supply? What’s the reasoning for that?

Rami Rahim: Yes. Alex, I’ll take that one. So obviously, very pleased with our cloud-ready data center momentum and success that we saw in Q4 time frame. Over the last several quarters, we did highlight a couple of meaningful wins, one in particular, in a Top 10 cloud provider that was a data center win. So this would be a part of our CRDC business and the solutions that we’re developing in that business. So whereas in prior quarters, that was sort of shown in terms of orders, now we’re actually starting to see the revenue contribution. There are other elements as well. I think our focus on software-led data center sales in much the same way as we’ve seen Mist lead to success in the AI-driven enterprise. Cloud-ready data center is still in the earlier phases of that growth period, but we’re starting to see a pickup in Apstra-led type opportunities where the net new logos and the sort of the strategic nature of those logos are actually starting to contribute nicely as well.

I would not expect this kind of cloud-ready data center performance on an ongoing basis, but again, I do think that I’m optimistic about the overall growth prospects for this business.

Operator: The next question is from George Notter with Jefferies.

George Notter: I guess I wanted to ask about your thoughts on the composition of the growth this year. You said at least 8% revenue growth and I know if we look back, you guys have instituted some price increases, I think Q3 included. But how much of that 8% plus growth do you think really comes from pricing versus units? How do you think about it?