Cisco’s 3Q Net Income, Sales Surpass Estimates

Tech bellwether Cisco said Wednesday its net income and revenue slipped in its fiscal third quarter, but the results topped Wall Street expectations and its shares rose in after-market trading.

Cisco’s net income and revenue both declined by smaller amounts than they did in the second quarter.

Cisco said its third-quarter net income declined 12 percent to $2.18 billion, or 42 cents per share, from $2.48 billion or 46 cents per share. If one-time items are excluded, the company said its net income was unchanged at 51 cents per share. Revenue fell 5.5 percent, to $11.55 billion from $12.22 billion. The company said it made progress toward returning to growth.

Analysts expected net income of 48 cents per share and $11.36 billion in revenue, according to FactSet.

The San Jose company said product revenue fell 8 percent to $8.82 billion and service revenue grew 3 percent to $2.73 billion.

Cisco’s performance is widely regarded as a bellwether for the technology industry because the company cuts a broad swath, selling routers, switches, software and services to corporate customers and government agencies. Its fiscal quarters also end a month later than most other major technology companies, which gives Cisco more time to assess economic conditions. Its fiscal third quarter ended on April 26.

Cisco shares rose 1.64, or 7.2 percent, to $24.45 in after-market trading Wednesday. They had fallen 5 cents to $22.81 during the regular trading session.

This article appeared in print in the May 15th, 2014 edition of Hamodia.