Spirent customers wait and see, amid acquisition by Keysight

Pending acquisition by Keysight slowed customer orders in the first half, Spirent says

Spirent Communications saw a continued slide in its financial performance during the first half of this year, which the company said was a combination of the ongoing telecom slowdown as well as customer “hesitancy” because Spirent is in the process of being acquired by Keysight Technologies.

Spirent reported orders for the first six months of 2024 were down 6% from the same time last year, to about $284 million. Revenues dropped 12% to $197.3 million.

“In the second quarter we experienced delays to contract placements as customers digested the information” about the acquisition by Keysight, said Spirent CEO Eric Updyke— although he added that there haven’t been any outright order cancellations.

He said that as Spirent works through the acquisition by Keysight, it is focused in several areas: Retaining its talent during the transition, and delivering product roadmaps so that Spirent maintains its readiness to support telecom customers, particularly once they return to higher investment levels.

Updyke said that the company’s strategy to diversify its portfolio is “continuing to advance and deliver results,” pointing out first-half wins in financial services assurance as well as automation and test. Spirent also released a new positioning project, new Wi-Fi 7 products, and a data center AI testing solution that was trialed with ten customers, with two commerical wins. “The need to be able to test the performance of Ethernet network fabric in an AI data centre is mission-critical for customers and will drive new business for Spirent,” Updyke concluded.

He went on to say that Spirent expects “challenging” market conditions to continue in the second half of this year, although it remains confident in 5G as an “enduring growth driver.”

Spirent said that it is working with Keysight on regulatory compliance in regard to the acquisition, with the transaction expected to close sometime between November 2024 and April 2025.

Spirent Communications went with Keysight’s competing, higher bid after an initial purchase proposal from Viavi Solutions.