Asia

Home page

Asia

Cisco delivers slight beat as revenue grows 8%

19 August 2021 03:29 (UTC +04:00)

Cisco shares moved slightly lower in extended trading on Wednesday after the networking hardware company reported earnings that exceeded analysts’ expectations, APA reports citing CNBC.

Here’s how the company did:

Earnings: 84 cents per share, adjusted, vs. 82 cents per share as expected by analysts, according to Refinitiv.
Revenue: $13.13 billion, vs. $13.03 billion as expected by analysts, according to Refinitiv.

Revenue grew about 8% year over year in the fiscal fourth quarter, which ended on July 31, according to a statement. In the previous quarter revenue rose almost 7% on an annualized basis. Gross margin narrowed to 63.6% from 63.9% in the prior quarter.

The Infrastructure Platforms segment that provides most of Cisco’s revenue in this quarter delivered $7.55 billion, which was up 13% year over year and more than the $7.11 billion that analysts had expected, according to StreetAccount. The segment includes sales of ethernet switches and routers for data centers.

Cisco’s Applications segment, which includes sales from Webex video-calling products, came up with $1.34 billion, down 1% and below the $1.46 billion StreetAccount analyst consensus.

Security revenue came in at $823 million, up 1% but missing the $904.7 million consensus.

In the quarter Cisco acquired start-ups Kenna Security and Socio Labs, which produces event software. Terms were not disclosed.

With respect to guidance, Cisco said it sees 79 cents to 81 cents in adjusted fiscal first-quarter earnings and revenue growth of 7.5% to 9.5%. Analysts polled by Refinitiv had been expecting 81 cents in adjusted earnings per share on $12.84 billion in revenue, which implies 7.7% revenue growth.

Cisco also issued guidance for the 2022 fiscal year. It called for $3.38 to $3.45 in adjusted earnings per share and 5% to 7% revenue growth. Analysts surveyed by Refinitiv had expected adjusted earnings of $3.41 per share, along with $51.91 billion in revenue, which works out to 4% growth.

Excluding the after-hours move, Cisco stock is up about 24% since the beginning of the calendar year, trailing the 30% rise of the S&P 500 index over the same period.

Executives will go over the results with analysts on a conference call starting at 4:30 p.m. ET.