Cisco rises on sunny outlook for the rest of its fiscal year

Cisco shares rose as much as 5% in extended trading on Wednesday after the enterprise software and hardware maker disclosed fiscal second-quarter earnings that surpassed analysts’ expectations.

Here’s how the company did:

• Earnings: 84 cents per share, adjusted, vs. 81 cents per share as expected by analysts, according to Refinitiv.
• Revenue: $12.70 billion, vs. $12.65 billion as expected by analysts, according to Refinitiv.

Revenue increased by 6% year over year in the quarter, which ended Jan. 29, according to a statement. In the previous quarter revenue had risen 8%.

“There are still significant constraints with semiconductors, preventing us from completing manufacturing of some of our products, and that remains a headwind to revenue growth despite very strong demand,” Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins said on a conference call with analysts.

Cisco’s Secure, Agile Networks segment, which includes data-center networking switches, generated $5.90 billion in revenue. That was up 7% and more than the $5.78 billion sum that analysts polled by StreetAccount had predicted.

The company’s Internet for the Future segment, which contains routed optical networking, public 5G, silicon and optics products, contributed $1.32 billion, up 42% and just above the StreetAccount consensus of $1.30 billion.

Cisco’s Hybrid Work segment that features Webex collaboration offerings posted $1.07 billion in revenue, down 9% and slightly lower than the $1.10 billion StreetAccount consensus. The segment’s name is changing to Collaboration this quarter, Cisco’s finance chief, Scott Herren, said.

With respect to guidance, Cisco called for 85 cents to 87 cents in adjusted fiscal third-quarter earnings per share on 3% to 5% revenue growth. Analysts polled by Refinitiv had expected 86 cents in adjusted earnings per share and $13.25 billion in revenue, which implies 3.5% growth.

For the 2022 fiscal year, Cisco said it sees $3.41 to $3.46 in adjusted earnings per share and 5.5% to 6.5% revenue growth. Analysts polled by Refinitiv had been looking for adjusted earnings of $3.42 per share and $52.71 billion in revenue, or 5.8% growth.

Last week news outlets reported that Cisco had made a bid for data-analytics software company Splunk; both companies declined to comment.

Shares of Cisco have declined 14% since the start of 2022, while the S&P 500 index has fallen roughly 6% over the same period.

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