After the bell Wednesday, Cisco Systems (CSCO) reported stellar earnings and revenue results that easily beat Zacks Consensus Estimates. The tech giant posted EPS of 43 cents per share (note: at Zacks we do not adjust results for employee stock options) on revenue of $11.5 billion, which bested estimates of 38 cents and $11.23 billion, respectively.
Recall a year ago, when a weak tech environment sent Cisco Systems struggling to gain traction. The company regained focus — not simply on routers and switches but Enterprise, Commercial, Search and Cloud-based businesses, as well — and now sees 11% growth and gross margins of 62.4%.
Shares of CSCO have risen off October 2011 lows by more than 30%, and there looks to be more to come in the near-term. After gaining 1% in regular-day trading today, Cisco’s impressive earnings beat has shot up 3% since the company reported 15 minutes ago.
Typically, the 12 analysts covering Cisco shares were very modestly optimistic over the quarter, increasing the consensus estimate by just a penny for the past 90 days. One analyst had bumped up his or her estimate in the past week, and two had upwardly revised within the past month. As we await Cisco’s conference call, company guidance may pave the way for a bevy of upward revisions going forward.
Righting the ship of a huge company like Cisco is never easy, but CEO John Chambers & Co. appear to have filled the void quite nicely in a year’s time. This is the third straight strong positive surprise in a row for Cisco, and it may be time many investors take another look.
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