When Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) released its fiscal fourth-quarter financial results after the markets closed on Wednesday, the company said that it had $0.70 in earnings per share (EPS) and $12.8 billion in revenue. Consensus estimates had called for $0.69 in EPS and revenue of $12.77 billion. The same period of last year reportedly had EPS of $0.61 and $12.13 billion in revenue.
During the latest quarter, Cisco closed the acquisition of Accompany, a privately held company that provides an AI-driven relationship intelligence platform. its e also announced its intent to acquire July Systems, a privately held company that provides enterprise-grade location platform through cloud-based subscription offerings. This acquisition closed in the first quarter of fiscal 2019. In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2018, the company announced an agreement to sell its Service Provider Video Software Solutions (SPVSS) business. It expects this transaction to close in the first half of fiscal 2019 subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.
In terms of its segments, Cisco reported as follows:
- Product revenue increased 6.8% year over year to $9.64 billion.
- Service revenue increased 3.1% to $3.20 billion.
Looking ahead to the fiscal first quarter, the company expects to see EPS in the range of $0.70 to $0.72 and revenue growth of 5% to 7% year over year. The consensus estimates are $0.69 in EPS and $12.61 billion in revenue in the quarter.
Chuck Robbins, board chair and chief executive of Cisco, commented:
We had a very strong finish to a great year and generated our highest quarterly revenue of $12.8 billion. Our results demonstrate a combination of strong customer adoption of our latest innovations, the ongoing value customers see in our software and subscription offerings, and excellent execution across our customer segments and geographies. Our strategy is working and we believe that are well-positioned to capture growth across our portfolio with our pipeline of innovation.
Shares of Cisco closed Wednesday at $43.86, with a consensus analyst price target of $49.56 and a 52-week trading range of $30.36 to $46.37. Following the announcement, the stock was up about 7% at $46.83 in early trading indications Thursday.
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