Citrix Systems posts lower Q3 license revenue; shares fall

(Reuters) - Infrastructure software maker Citrix Systems Inc (CTXS.O) posted higher quarterly profit that marginally beat estimates, but product license revenue fell 18 percent, sending shares down 5 percent.

For the third quarter, the company posted earnings of $53.4 million, or 29 cents a share, compared with $49.1 million, or 26 cents a share, a year ago.

The company, which develops virtualization software that allows a single computer to act like many "virtual" machines, earned 43 cents a share, excluding items.

Total net revenue was almost flat at $401 million. Product license revenue was $129.1 million compared with $157.5 million year ago.

Analysts were expecting the company to earn 41 cents a share, on revenue of about $400 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Shares of the Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based company fell 5 percent to $39.38 in after-market trade. They closed at $41.36 Wednesday on Nasdaq.

(Reporting by Sayantani Ghosh in Bangalore; Editing by Pradeep Kurup)