Cisco’s Fiscal Q3 Looks Normal, Market Wanted More

May 17th, 2018 by · 1 Comment

With its size and influence in the sector, Cisco’s financial results would be a key milestone even if their corporate calendar weren’t off-rhythm by a month. Since they are though, we get a look at results that include an extra month of economic activity. Cisco’s numbers were pretty much where they were expected to be, and guidance for fiscal Q4 was too.

Revenues of $12.46B were up from $11.94B last year and checked in slightly above the consensus estimate of $12.43B. Adjusted earnings per share came in at $0.66, which was a penny higher than expected. Estimates for Fiscal Q4 were $12.62-12.86B and $0.68-0.70, which largely bracket expectations depending on which bucket of analysts you average for your consensus.

But the company’s stock is off nearly 4% after hours in response to a ‘tepid’ forecast. In other words, inline with actual expectations isn’t actually what the market thought it deserved, especially since the company’s stock price started surging over the winter from the mid 30s to the mid 40s where it now stands.

In particular, the company’s services business didn’t grow at the rate some might have preferred, nor did revenues from the security side of things. Yet, in neither case was there anything particularly dramatic to see in the numbers or any change in trajectory. In other words, things look fine for Cisco but the hype got out ahead of things as it so often does. C’est la vie.

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Categories: Financials · Telecom Equipment

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1 Comment, Add Yours!


  • Jon C says:

    The markets always expect more, even when they don’t really understand the particulars of the market. Cisco is stong in many areas, and overhyped in others – as has been the case for at least a decade. Nothing surprising here – including 33-year old Wall street analysts thinking they know the ebbs and flows of the IT industry better than those of us that were doing this before they got out of diapers. Oh well.

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