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Juniper Networks Reports Preliminary Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2012 Financial Results

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Note C: Share-Based Compensation Related Items. We provide non-GAAP information relative to our expense for share-based compensation and related payroll tax. We began to include share-based compensation expense in our GAAP financial measures in accordance with Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") Accounting Standards Codification ("ASC") Topic 718, Compensation - Stock Compensation ("FASB ASC Topic 718"), in January 2006. Because of varying available valuation methodologies, subjective assumptions and the variety of award types, which affect the calculations of share-based compensation, we believe that the exclusion of share-based compensation allows for more accurate comparisons of our operating results to our peer companies. Further, we believe that excluding share-based compensation expense allows for a more accurate comparison of our financial results to previous periods during which our equity-based awards were not required to be reflected in our income statement. Share-based compensation is very different from other forms of compensation. A cash salary or bonus has a fixed and unvarying cash cost. For example, the expense associated with a $10,000 bonus is equal to exactly $10,000 in cash regardless of when it is awarded and who it is awarded by. In contrast, the expense associated with an award of an option for 1,000 shares of share is unrelated to the amount of compensation ultimately received by the employee; and the cost to the company is based on a share-based compensation valuation methodology and underlying assumptions that may vary over time and that does not reflect any cash expenditure by the company because no cash is expended. Furthermore, the expense associated with granting an employee an option is spread over multiple years unlike other compensation expenses which are more proximate to the time of award or payment. For example, we may be recognizing expense in a year where the stock option is significantly underwater and is not going to be exercised or generate any compensation for the employee. The expense associated with an award of an option for 1,000 shares of stock by us in one quarter may have a very different expense than an award of an identical number of shares in a different quarter. Finally, the expense recognized by us for such an option may be very different than the expense to other companies for awarding a comparable option, which makes it difficult to assess our operating performance relative to our competitors. Similar to share-based compensation, payroll tax on stock option exercises is dependent on our stock price and the timing and exercise by employees of our share-based compensation, over which our management has little control, and as such does not correlate to the operation of our business. Because of these unique characteristics of share-based compensation and the related payroll tax, management excludes these expenses when analyzing the organization's business performance. We also believe that presentation of such non-GAAP information is important to enable readers of our financial statements to compare current period results with periods prior to the adoption of FASB ASC Topic 718.

Note D: Non-GAAP Net Income Per Share Items. We provide basic non-GAAP net income per share and diluted non-GAAP net income per share. The basic non-GAAP net income per share amount was calculated based on our non-GAAP net income and the weighted-average number of shares outstanding during the reporting period. The diluted non-GAAP income per share included additional dilution from potential issuance of common stock, except when such issuances would be anti-dilutive.

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