NetApp’s stock rises after raised profit and sales guidance, citing strong cloud storage demand [Video]

NetApp Inc. delivered a solid earnings and revenue beat today before raising its guidance for both metrics, saying it’s seeing strong demand for data storage services as companies upgrade their cloud infrastructure.

The strong results and optimistic guidance helped to boost the company’s stock more than 5% in extended trading, adding to gains of just over 2% during the regular trading session.

The company reported earnings before certain costs such as stock compensation of $1.87 per share, above the average analyst estimate of just $1.79 per share. It also reported sales of $1.66 billion, up 6% from a year earlier and just ahead of Wall Street’s forecast of $1.65 billion.

All told, NetApp reported net income for the second quarter of $299 million, rising from $233 million in the same period one year earlier.

NetApp Chief Executive George Kurian (pictured) said the company’s strong quarter was driven by record sales of all-flash storage products and …