Oct 31 (Reuters) - Juniper Networks ( JNPR ), which is

being bought by Hewlett Packard Enterprise ( HPE ), beat Wall

Street estimates for third-quarter revenue and profit on

Thursday, aided by demand for its networking equipment.

Sunnyvale, California-based Juniper is benefiting from

strong demand from cloud computing firms as they invest heavily

to bolster AI infrastructure.

For the third quarter, the company reported revenue of $1.33

billion, beating analysts' expectations of $1.26 billion,

according to data compiled by LSEG data.

"We saw particularly robust orders from our cloud customers

during Q3 in support of front-end and back-end AI networking

initiatives," Chief Executive Rami Rahim said in a statement.

On an adjusted basis, the company earned 48 cents per share

in the quarter ended Sept. 30, compared with estimates of 44

cents per share.

In January, Hewlett Packard Enterprise ( HPE ) said it would acquire

Juniper for about $14 billion, and last month the AI server

maker announced a $1.35 billion mandatory convertible preferred

stock offering to fund its acquisition.

Juniper said on Thursday it would not provide annual

forecast owing to the takeover, which is expected to close by

late 2024 or early 2025.