Cisco Systems’ CFO said after the company reported its results for the July quarter that lead times for some parts were as long as 40 to 50 weeks.
Gabriel Bouys/AFP via Getty Images
Cisco Systems results, due after the close of trading on Wednesday, should provide data on both the strength of enterprise IT spending and the ability of hardware manufacturers to meet demand given problems with the supply chain.
For its fiscal first quarter, ended Oct. 31, Cisco (ticker: CSCO) has projected revenue growth of 7.5% to 9.5%. At the middle of that range, the figure would be $12.9 billion, while the consensus view on Wall Street calls for $13 billion. Cisco’s guidance calls for non-GAAP profits of 79 to 81 cents a share, in line with the Street’s consensus forecast of 80 cents.
Management forecast non-GAAP gross margin for the quarter of 63.5% to 64.5%, down from 65.6% in the July quarter.
In an interview with Barron’s following the July quarter results, Chief Financial Officer Scott Herren said that the company was seeing shortages of memory chips, other semiconductors and power supplies, among other things, and that lead times for some parts were stretching to 40 to 50 weeks. Cisco could have produced higher revenue in the July quarter if it had more parts, Herren said, also noting that higher shipping costs remained a factor.
Barclays analyst Tim Long wrote in a recent research note that he thinks results are likely to be in line with expectations to slightly positive, given a continued rebound in IT spending and strong results from peers like Juniper Networkr (JNPR), Arista Networks (ANET), and F5 Networks (FFIV). A recent Barclays survey found that resellers expect double-digit growth in spending on networking gear in calendar 2022.
Sentiment on the stock has improved as the outlook for IT spending has brightened, Long said. Last quarter, Cisco reported 31% order growth, up from 10% in the April quarter.
Cisco shares have rallied 34% for the year through Monday, compared with a bit less than 25% for the S&P 500. On Tuesday, the stock was up a few pennies at $57.29.
Evercore ISI analyst Amit Daryanani wrote recently that he thinks the company will beat expectations, saying gross margins could surprise investors.
“Our checks have continued to point towards enterprise recovery picking up momentum as customers scale their ‘hybrid work’ resulting in broad demand across campus, collaboration and security offerings,” he wrote. “The strong demand trends should drive modest revenue upside and we expect backlog growth to remain high as shortages continue to limit Cisco’s ability to fulfill demand.”
The Wall Street consensus expectation for the January quarter is for revenue of $12.85 billion and a profit of 82 cents a share.
Write to Eric J. Savitz at [email protected]
