F5 Networks Inc.FFIV

Morningstar Rating

Stock Research and Analysis

by Joseph Beaulieu

F5 Networks' differentiated approach to network traffic management has allowed it to gain share from much-larger rival Cisco Systems CSCO. Now the company is hoping it can repeat this success in the adjacent storage management market. Although competition Read more

Bulls Say

F5 Networks is a leading provider of data network traffic and content management hardware and software.

An emphasis on software, combined with the use of off-the-shelf hardware components, gives the firm a time-to-market and cost advantage over its competitors.

By allowing outside vendors, such as Oracle ORCL, to write specific tasks for its products, F5 has cultivated a powerful sales channel of enterprise software partners. Read more

Bears Say

F5 competes with networking giant Cisco, which has considerably greater financial resources and could steal share by bundling products. There are also plenty of smaller competitors.

Manufacturers of routers and switches are incorporating many of the functions performed by F5's appliances into their own products. Read more

Strategy

F5 believes that its software gives it an advantage over its hardware-based competitors. By allowing third-party application developers to write specific tasks for its switches, applications can run Read more

Management

John McAdam, who previously ran IBM's IBM Web server division, was brought in as president and CEO in 2000. We have a number of concerns surrounding corporate governance. First, top management and directors have a limited financial stake in F5's fortunes; Read more

Profile

F5 Networks provides products that help manage growing network traffic, application complexity, and security concerns. F5's customer base has evolved from an initial focus Read more

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