Cisco Delivers Strong Financial Results And Bullish Guidance

Cisco Systems’ (CSCO) stock is up about 5% after the telecommunications equipment maker reported financial results that beat Wall Street forecasts and issued upbeat forward guidance.The Silicon Valley-based company announced earnings per share (EPS) of $0.96 U.S., which was ahead of the $0.92 U.S. expected among analysts. Revenue in the quarter ended April 26 totaled $14.15 billion U.S., which topped the $14.08 billion U.S. anticipated on Wall Street. Sales were up 11% from a year earlier.Looking ahead, Cisco’s management team delivered a bullish outlook, saying they expect EPS of $0.96 U.S. to $0.98 U.S. for fiscal 2025 on $14.50 billion U.S. to $14.70 billion U.S. in sales. Analysts had forecast earnings of $0.95 U.S. and sales of $14.58 billion U.S. for the company.Cisco executives said the guidance factors in the expected impact of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs on goods imported into America.Importantly, Cisco reported $600 million U.S. in artificial intelligence (A.I.) infrastructure orders from customers during the quarter. That brings the total over the past year to $1.25 billion U.S. Cisco said the value of it’s A.I. orders surpassed the $1 billion U.S. mark a quarter ahead of schedule. In recent months, Cisco began selling a Webex A.I. agent for customer service.Cisco’s networking revenue rose 8% to $7.07 billion U.S. during the quarter. That was ahead of analysts’ expectations of $6.81 billion U.S. Revenue from security products increased 54% to $2.01 billion U.S., which was actually below the $2.17 billion U.S. consensus forecast on Wall Street.Prior to today (May 15), Cisco’s stock had risen 4% on the year to trade at $61.29 U.S. per share.