Why Juniper Networks, Inc. Stock Fell 10.8% in October

Shares of Juniper Networks (NYSE: JNPR) fell 10.8% in October, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. The second-largest maker of enterprise-grade networking equipment and software knew it had some weak sauce on tap, so the company tried to soften the blow by lowering its guidance targets before reporting third-quarter results.

On Oct. 11, Juniper announced the date and time for its upcoming earnings report. In the same announcement, management also lowered the midpoint of Juniper's revenue guidance from $1.32 billion to $1.255 billion due to slow orders for Juniper's cloud networking products. The adjusted bottom-line guidance also took a haircut, falling from $0.58 to $0.55 per diluted share. Juniper's shares fell more than 6% the next day.

The other shoe dropped two weeks later, when Juniper reported its third-quarter results. The numbers were right in line with Juniper's new, lower guidance, but management's projections for the fourth quarter came in below Wall Street's estimates. As a result, the stock took another dive, this time as much as 7% lower.

Source: Fool.com