Cisco Systems Inc.’s share price down, announces decreasing third-quarter profit, but raises fourth-quarter forecasts

Cisco Systems Inc., the largest networking equipment manufacturer in the world, posted its quarterly results yesterday. Cisco revealed that the companys revenue in the third-quarter (ended April 26th), fell by 5.5% from a year ago and reached 11.5 billion dollars. This result topped the analysts estimates of a 11.4-billion-dollar revenue. The companys net income for the period fell from 2.48 billion dollars during the previous quarter to 2.18 billion dollars.

Cisco Systems Inc. also posted its profit and sales forecast for the fourth quarter of the current financial year, which surpassed the analysts expectations for the period. The company projected a revenue estimates ranging between 12 and 12.3 billion dollars, which beats the analysts forecasts of 11.8-billion-dollar revenue. Mr. John Chambers, who is the Chief Executive Officer of the company is putting his efforts into consolidating the company and expanding its reach, which will make Cisco more competitive and able to face new challenges.

Chief Executive Officer Chambers said in a conference call, which was cited by the Wall Street Journal: “I am pleased with the progress to return to growth.” Mr. Chambers also added: “Our clear goal is to return to growth. We’ve got some real heavy lifting to do and I’m sure there will be a couple bumps along the way, especially in emerging markets.”

Mr. John Chambers, who occupied the CEO position almost two decades ago, is currently putting his efforts into pushing to company to success and swing it to profit before stepping down. Under his lead, the company s strategy was reorganized, which was followed by massive lay-offs.

Recently, the company has been hurt by decreasing sales in emerging markets, and especially the ones in China, Brazil and Russia. There was a recovery in demand in the U.S. over the latest quarter, which affected almost all product categories. The revenue growth reported by the company in the U.S. amounts to about 10%. This was seen by Cisco as a hopeful sign that the companys future revenues will increase.

Cisco Systems Inc. was 0.22% down to close at 22.81 dollars per share yesterday, marking a one-year change of +7.24%. According to the information published on CNN Money, the 33 analysts offering 12-month price forecasts for Cisco Systems Inc. have a median target of 25.00, with a high estimate of 30.00 and a low estimate of 16.00. The median estimate represents a +9.60% increase from the last price of 22.81.