Cisco Beats Estimates. The Stock Is Jumping

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Cisco

Systems reported strong earnings, and provided an upbeat revenue forecast for the October quarter, citing an easing of supply-chain constraints. Its shares rose in after-hours trading.

The networking and security products company reported fiscal fourth quarter adjusted earnings per share of 83 cents, compared to Wall Street’s consensus estimate of 82 cents, according to FactSet. Revenue came in at $13.1 billion, which was above analysts’ expectations of $12.73 billion.

Cisco’s (ticker: CSCO) guidance was also solid. It gave a revenue growth forecast range for the current quarter of 2% to 4% year-over-year—while analysts had been projecting a 0.6% fall.

Cisco shares rose as much as 4.4% to $48.72 initially following the release.

This is breaking news. Read a preview of Cisco earnings below and check back for more analysis soon.

Investors are eagerly awaiting the latest results from technology bellwether Cisco to get an update on the state of enterprise spending.

The maker of networking and security products is slated to report its fiscal fourth-quarter numbers after Wednesday’s close.

The Wall Street consensus estimates for Cisco call for the company to report July-quarter revenue of $12.73 billion, with adjusted earnings per share of 82 cents. Analysts’ estimates for the current quarter’s revenue are $12.82 billion.

Earlier this week, J.P. Morgan analyst Samik Chatterjee warned his clients that Cisco may face a more difficult spending environment in the coming quarters. The analyst reiterated his Neutral rating for the stock.

We have “mounting concerns on enterprise IT spend outlook heading into 2H22 and 2023, as well as company-specific concerns related to supply chain execution,” he wrote.

Expectations have already come down. In May, Cisco gave a forecast for the July quarter that was lower than analyst estimates at the time, citing supply-chain issues from the Covid-19 lockdowns in China.

Cisco shares closed up 0.4% on Tuesday, at $46.77, off 26% for 2022. So far this year, the tech-laden

Nasdaq Composite

index has declined 16%.

Write to Tae Kim at tae.kim@barrons.com