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Cisco earnings up 79 percent in fourth quarter, stock down as revenue misses analyst estimate
By PETER SVENSSON
AP Technology Writer
(AP) 04:59:42 PM (ET), Wednesday, August 11, 2010 (NEW YORK)
Cisco Systems Inc. reported stronger earnings in the latest quarter as its customers continued to catch up on delayed purchases of networking gear, but its stock fell Wednesday as revenue missed Wall Street expectations.

The world's largest maker of computer networking gear said both net income and revenue bounced back from last year's recession levels. Still, analysts were expecting even stronger results after a couple of quarters of Cisco exceeding its own expectations.

CEO John Chambers also provided a sales forecast for the new quarter than came in below expectations, saying he's noticed that the economic recovery is slowing down. Cisco is broadly exposed to capital spending at large corporations, phone companies and government agencies across the world.

"We're seeing a large number of mixed signals," Chambers said. "We think the words 'unusual uncertainty' are an accurate description of what's occurring."

Cisco said Wednesday that it earned $1.9 billion, or 33 cents per share, in the fiscal fourth quarter that ended July 31. That's up 79 percent from $1.1 billion, or 19 cents per share, a year ago.

Revenue rose 27 percent to $10.8 billion, just under analysts' forecasts of $10.9 billion. The company had projected revenue between $10.7 billion and $10.9 billion. Revenue in the quarter last year was $8.5 billion.

In extended trading after the release of the results, Cisco shares fell $1.78, or 7.5 percent, to $21.87. That came on top of regular-session losses of 58 cents to close at $23.73.

Excluding one-time charges and the cost of stock-based compensation, the San Jose, Calif.-based company earned 43 cents per share. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected 42 cents per share, on average.

Chambers said he expects revenue in the current quarter to rise 18 percent to 20 percent from last year, which works out to $10.65 billion to $10.83 billion. Analysts were expecting $10.95 billion, on average.


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* Keyword: Earnings. *

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