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Pure Storage ( PSTG ) stock was up for the fifth day in a row ahead of its fourth-quarter earnings set for release today after the close. Pure Storage is a provider of flash-chip-based storage systems for the enterprise market, a cutting-edge technology that is making life difficult for storage leaders EMC ( EMC )and NetApp ( NTAP ). Pure Storage CEO Scott Dietzen says the data storage industry is on the cusp of a revolutionary change that it aims to lead. He says Pure Storage is one of the fastest-growing tech companies in history. The Mountain View, Calif.-based company launched its first product in May 2012 and has posted triple-digit revenue growth for at least eight quarters in a row. Make that nine, if Pure Storage holds onto its brisk revenue-growth pace. The consensus estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters call for Q4 revenue of $138.6 million, up 110% from the year-earlier quarter. But that rapid growth has come at a cost, as Pure Storage is pouring big sums into sales and marketing, and research and development, in an aggressive bid to expand market share. The company is expected to post a loss of 16 cents a share, compared with a 25-cent loss last Q4. Pure Storage stock was up 1.2%, near 15, in afternoon trading in the stock market today , and Wednesday touched its 2016 high. Pure Storage made its initial public offering in October, raising $425 million by pricing 25 million shares at 17. A recent report from Summit Research said that while Pure Storage has cutting-edge data technology, it will face an uphill battle trying to dislodge EMC and NetApp. EMC on Feb. 29 announced new products that it called “a quantum leap in flash storage.” EMC said it will commit to all-flash for its primary storage offerings, “relegating traditional disk to bulk and archive storage requirements.” In October, EMC has agreed to be acquired by Dell for $67 billion, a deal that is not yet completed. In December, NetApp announced that it will pay $870 million in cash to acquire SolidFire, a provider of storage systems that are based on flash-memory chips. Scalper1 News
Scalper1 News