Juniper Networks said its latest financial results reflected growing traction of its new data center equipment, as it reported a four-percent sequential rise in net revenue and a one-percent year-over-year rise to about US$1.12 million.

“Juniper’s security turnaround is on track,” said an official statement, “productivity and efficiency actions are moving ahead of schedule with a sharpened focus.”

However, Juniper’s operating margin for the third quarter of 2012 plunged from 8.1% in the second quarter to 3.8% in Q3 2012.

Kevin Johnson, Juniper's CEO, said the company would align itself to sharpen its focus in a bid to drive efficiency as its positions itself for 2013.

The company's CFO Robyn Denholm hinted that customers might be the problem. “Though long-term demand fundamentals for high-performance networking continue to be positive, customers remain cautious in the near-term environment,” he said.

“We remain focused on driving revenue growth. With our workforce restructuring largely complete, we’re well prepared to capture the market opportunity ahead.”

Total cash, cash equivalents and investments as of September 30, 2012 were $4.05m, compared to $4.27m as of the second quarter of 2012 and $4.13m as of the third quarter of 2011.

Juniper reported $173m net cash from operations for the third quarter, compared to $212m in the second quarter of 2012, and $185 million in the third quarter of 2011.

The company estimated that revenue for Q4 (ending December 31, 2012) will be $1.1m to $1.13m.