NetScout profit beats estimates, shares rise

(Reuters) - NetScout Systems Inc (NTCT.O), which helps monitor software applications on networks, posted quarterly results that beat Wall Street forecasts as operating margins increased.

NetScout's shares rose more than 13 percent to $22.45 in morning trade on Thursday.

The company said it would buy Helsinki, Finland-based Accanto Systems, which enables voice services over the Internet and 3G networks.

The acquisition will help NetScouts's international business because there are smaller telecom operators looking for a vendor with a full line of products, Chief Operating Officer Michael Szabados said on an investor call.

The company, whose customers include the U.S. government, also said order bookings rose 27 percent during the second quarter.

Earnings doubled to $5.0 million, or 12 cents per share, from $2.4 million, or 6 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding items, NetScout earned 19 cents per share.

Revenue rose 21 percent to $76.5 million.

Non-GAAP operating margin was up 3 points at 17 percent.

Analysts on average had expected earnings of 18 cents per share on revenue of $74.7 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The Westford, Massachusetts-based company reaffirmed its full-year adjusted earnings of $1.21 to $1.30 per share on revenue of $340 million to $355 million.

Analysts were expecting earnings of $1.26 per share on revenue of $347.5 million.

(Reporting by Shubham Singhal in Bangalore; Editing by Don Sebastian)