Juniper's (JNPR) shares have risen significantly since the company's previous earnings release unlike Cisco (CSCO), which have trended in the opposite direction. This could imply that investors are more excited about Juniper's upcoming products relative to Cisco's. One of these is its new data center technology previously called Project Stratus, which is now being branded QFabric. Besides Cisco, Juniper also competes with Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) and Huawei-3Com in the network equipment business.

Our price estimate for Juniper's stock stands at $32.59, which is roughly 23% below the current market price.

Analyst Upgrades

• SINA (SINA) to overweight from neutral at Piper Jaffray.
• Texas Instruments (TXN), ON Semiconductor (ONNN), Xilinx (XLNX) and Valassis (VCI) to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Salesforce.com (CRM) to buy from hold at Canaccord.
• Peet's Coffee (PEET) to buy from neutral at Janney Capital.
• Invesco Mortgage (IVR) to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• BTU International (BTUI) to buy from hold at Wunderlich.
• Coca-Cola Femsa (KOF) to overweight from neutral at HSBC.
• Chipotle (CMG) to market perform from underperform at Morgan Keegan.

Juniper Networks (JNPR) plans to unveil its new networking system on Wednesday called QFabric, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The increase in data from mobile devices and 'cloud' applications programs delivered over the Internet are creating demand for more computing and storage systems. Juniper's new network claims to be a better mousetrap. Its system is geared toward large data centers. It connects servers and storage devices more directly than traditional systems.

Juniper Networks (JNPR) is on the upswing, with the stock catching a 6% boost Wednesday morning on the heels of a well-received fourth-quarter earnings report. Juniper reported a quarterly profit of $190.2 million, or 35 cents per share, substantially improved from its year-ago results of $22.9 million, or 4 cents per share. Excluding items, earnings improved to 42 cents from 32 cents per share on a year-over-year basis.

Meanwhile, revenue for the quarter increased 26% to $1.19 billion. Gross margin retreated slightly, falling to 66.6% from 67.1%.

Stocks opened lower after a downbeat report from Cisco Systems on its guidance. The G20 meeting of leaders of the industrial and developing countries in Seoul, South Korea, is beginning discussions on world trade and currencies. The currency markets are roiled again, with the US dollar gaining strength against the Euro, primarily on fears that the European Union will have to do something about Ireland's debt. Something like a bailout similar to the Greek bailout of earlier this year.

Here are the unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow Jones 11,283.10 -73.94 (-0.65%)
S&P 500 1,213.54 -5.17 (-0.42%)
Nasdaq 2,555.52 -23.26 (-0.90%)

Top Stock Analyst Calls

"With the uber-ambitious Ellison and Hurd now paired, I think the safe bet is we're going so see Oracle (ORCL) make some major moves (yes, probably more than one major acquisition)," suggests tech sector expert Paul McWilliams.

The editor of Next Inning explains, "After all, even without Hurd at his side, Oracle founder, Larry Ellison has been an aggressive buyer and now with Hurd on board I think the appetite could become ravenous.

"I think its probably a good idea to start thinking about what Oracle might do next.

Analyst Upgrades

• Oppenheimer upgraded VeriSign (VRSN) to outperform from perform, citing better-than-expected domain names trends and the potential for a sizeable share buyback. The firm has a $33 price target for shares.
• Oppenheimer also upgraded EMC (EMC) to outperform from perform, citing valuation and expectations for strong Q2 results. The firm set a $22 price target for shares.
• Piper Jaffray upgraded Juniper (JNPR) to overweight from neutral, citing valuation and its longer-term outlook. The firm keeps a $31 price target for shares.
• Kilroy Realty (KRC) was upgraded to neutral from underperform at BofA/Merrill.
• Veolia Environment (VE) was upgraded to buy from add at WestLB.
• QEP Resources (QEP) was upgraded to positive from neutral at Susquehanna.

Cisco Systems (CSCO - option chain) shares are rising today after company CEO John Chambers said in an interview that tech companies often are among the first to see gains in a recovering economy as businesses upgrade their technology. This could be a good sign for the company, which is scheduled to report Q2 earnings on Wednesday evening. Analysts are looking for the company to post a profit of 35 cents per share on revenue of $9.4 billion, compared to a profit of 32 cents per share on revenue of $9.09 billion in the year-ago period. A good quarter announced last night by competitor Juniper Networks (JNPR) also bodes well for Cisco next week. If you think that the stock won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on CSCO.

Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) reported Q3 stats after the bell on Wednesday. How did the tech company that runs with the likes of Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ), Juniper Networks (NASDAQ: JNPR), and Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) fare? Very well, thank you.

Well, let me clarify that. Cisco saw a lot of declines in its numbers, but we all know what the most important thing to investors is: beating the Wall Street analysts. In this regard, Cisco's management did just fine. As I observed in my earnings preview piece, the call was for Cisco to do somewhere around 25 cents per share. Well, the company bested that figure by an awesome nickel on an adjusted basis.

Tech investors will be looking forward to seeing how Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) made out in the third quarter. The networking entity, whose colleagues include Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ), Juniper Networks (NASDAQ: JNPR), and Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU), will be reporting Q3 numbers on Wednesday, May 6, after the market closes. According to analysts, Cisco is not expected to grow the bottom line. The call is for 25 cents per share. If that figure is hit, then it will represent a drop of more than 30% on a year-over-year basis.

Here's the bright side, though. Cisco has beat the analysts at their game in recent times. Quite frankly, I think Cisco should be able to come ahead of estimates this week. I don't necessarily see why the trend will break. It's not like the stock has been telling the market that it will. Shares of Cisco have been doing well.

Juniper Networks, Inc. (NASADQ: JNPR) stock is relatively flat today after an analyst at Friedman, Billings, and Ramsey initiated coverage on the stock with a "Market Perform" rating, saying he expects modest growth for the company over the next few years. The analyst said profit forecasts by other analysts are realistic, but there is reason to be cautious on JNPR, since other vendors have noted increasing caution by customers. If you think this stock won't be rising too far in the coming months, then it could be a good time to look at a bearish hedged play on JNPR.

After hitting a one-year low of $19.86 last April, the stock hit a one-year high of $37.95 in October. This morning, JNPR opened at $24.30. So far today the stock has hit a low of $23.69 and a high of $24.39. As of 12:40, JNPR is trading at $24.39, up 1 cent (0.04%). The chart for JNPR looks neutral and improving, while S&P gives the stock a neutral 3 STARS (out of 5) hold rating.

For a bearish hedged play on this stock, I would consider a July bear-call credit spread above the $31 range. A bear-call credit spread is an options position that combines the purchase and sale of call options to hedge risk in case the stock doesn't do what you think but still leverage nice returns. For this particular trade, we will make an 8.1% return in 3 and a half months as long as JNPR is below $31 at July expiration. Juniper would have to rise by more than 27% before we would start to lose money. Learn more about this type of trade here.

JNPR hasn't been above $31 since January and has shown resistance around $26 recently. This trade could be risky if the company's earnings (due out on 4/24) are a positive surprise, but even if that happens, this position could be protected by resistance JNPR might find at its 200 day moving average, which is currently around $31.

Brent Archer is an options analyst and writer at Investors Observer.

DISCLOSURE: Mr. Archer owns and/or controls diversified portfolios of long and short stock and option positions that may include holdings in companies he writes about. At publication time, Brent neither owns nor controls positions in JNPR.

Juniper Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: JNPR) shares are trading higher today after RBC Capital Markets upgraded the stock to Sector Perform from Outperform as noted by our own Eric Buscemi. We always think what kind of trade might make sense in light of the news. If you think that the company's stock won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on JNPR.

After hitting a one-year low of $17.21 in March, the stock hit a one-year high of $37.95 in October. JNPR opened this morning at $26.91. So far today the stock has hit a low of $26.54 and a high of $27.36. As of 11:20, JNPR is trading at $27.16, up 97 cents (3.7%). The chart for JNPR looks bearish but improving slightly, while S&P gives the stock a neutral 3 STARS (out of 5) hold rating.

For a bullish hedged play on this stock, I would consider an April bull-put credit spread below the $22.50 range. A bull-put credit spread is an options position that combines the purchase and sale of put options to hedge risk in case the stock doesn't do what you think but still leverage nice returns. For this particular trade will make an 8.7% return in just two months as long as JNPR is above $22.50 at April expiration. Juniper would have to fall by more than 17% before we would start to lose money.

JNPR hasn't been below $22.50 since last May and has shown support around $25 recently. This trade could be risky if JNPR continues its recent downward slide, but even if that happens, this position could be protected by the support the stock has found just below $25 over the past month.

Brent Archer is an options analyst and writer at Investors Observer. At publication time, Brent neither owns nor controls positions in JNPR.

Technology shares have been battered over the last three months, but I expect the group will lead the broader market to new highs later in the year. While everyone is worried about the economy, the earnings numbers and forecasts that tech companies are providing should make investors very bullish for '08.

The likes of Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Juniper Networks (NASDAQ: JNPR) and Broadcom (NASDAQ: BRCM) all beat the Street's estimates and raised guidance. What makes this even more interesting is that each company operates in different technology sectors, so it appears that corporate spending is still strong, and that should have a big impact on earnings going forward.

Aaron Katsman is the lead Portfolio Manager and Managing Director of America Israel Investment Associates, LLC. and Senior Editor of IsraelNewsletter.com. DISCLOSURE: Writer has no positions in any stock mentioned as of 1/25/08

Microsoft's (NASDAQ: MSFT) business division is one of its most profitable operations. Stephen Elop, an executive at network equipment company Juniper (NASDAQ: JNPR), will come to Redmond to head the part of the company that produces Office software applications. Jeff Raikes, who runs the business now, has been at the company since 1981.

It would be easy to assume that Mr. Raikes has made hundreds of millions of dollars at Microsoft, and would simply like to take his cash and have a little rest. But, as The Wall Street Journal points out, "a host of new competitors try to pick away at Office with Internet services." That list of competitors is lead by Google (NASDAQ: GOOG).

Microsoft has demonstrated through recent M&A activity that it is willing to increase its revenue beyond its traditional software business in areas such as search and internet advertising. But for the next several years the company's cash flow is going to come from its traditional products like Windows and Office. These now operate using the processing power and storage of the computers where they sit. Google is putting products into the market that operate on the PC but use the company's servers to do much of the work.

Raikes may be leaving because you can't teach an old dog new tricks. With Google coming after it, Microsoft needs to hope that it can teach its new dogs new tricks.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

Juniper Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: JNPR) shares are trading higher this morning as tech stocks are rebounding from recent losses. Some analysts felt the industry had a pull-back coming simply because those stocks had been safe havens throughout much of the financial sector's woes. Today, positive movement by Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) and Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) indicates that the mini-correction could be through. If you think that the company won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on JNPR.

After hitting a one-year high of $37.95 in October, the stock has declined over the past month. JNPR opened this morning at $30.05. So far today the stock has hit a low of $29.78 and a high of $30.35. As of 11:05, JNPR is trading at $30.19, up $0.50 (1.7%). The chart for JNPR looks neutral and deteriorating, while S&P gives the stock a negative 2 STARS (out of 5) sell rating.