Rackspace Hosting Inc.'s first-quarter earnings rose 68% as the data-storage provider continued to grow its customer base and improve its revenue. However, shares fell 12% to US$50.58 after hours as earnings fell a penny short of analyst estimates and as the company said it is executing through an important platform shift to its next generation cloud.

Rackspace has posted stronger bottom-line results in recent periods as it continues to benefit from businesses' push to manage technology resources more efficiently. The company has also added software and higher levels of service to its offerings, in an effort to stand out amid a crowded storage-services field. Rackpace's cloud storage business- hich allows companies to rent server capacity by the hour, paying only for what they use as seen particular growth. The company reported a profit of US$23.2 million, up from US$13.8 million,. Revenue rose 31% to S$301.4 million.

Source: Total Telecom