Tech

Cisco shares drop after earnings report as revenue continues to decline

Key Points
  • Cisco beat expectations on the top and bottom lines for last quarter.
  • The stock fell 4% after hours as investors digested the company's lackluster growth.
  • Cisco shares are up just 5% in the past year, way below the 22% for the S&P 500.
Cisco Q2 earnings: $0.77 EPS vs. $0.76 estimated
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Cisco Q2 earnings: $0.77 EPS vs. $0.76 estimated

Cisco reported fiscal second-quarter results that beat analysts' estimates on Wednesday, but investors were not impressed with the company's continuing revenue declines, and the stock is now trading down around 4% after hours.

Here are the key numbers:

  • Earnings: 77 cents per share, excluding certain items, vs. 76 cents per share as expected by analysts, according to Refinitiv.
  • Revenue: $12.01 billion, vs. $11.98 billion as expected by analysts, according to Refinitiv. That's down 4% from last year.

Cisco remains the dominant player in the data center switch market, but the company has for years been mired in slow growth because the bulk of new spending in IT is going to the large cloud vendors rather than the legacy hardware manufacturers.

The company said it expects 79 cents to 81 cents in earnings per share, excluding certain items, and an annualized revenue decline of 1.5% to 3.5% in the fiscal third quarter. The EPS estimates were ahead of expectations, but the company noted on its call that the forecast did not take into account any disruptions to the supply chain that might arise from the coronavirus crisis in China. 

Revenue for Cisco's two largest business segments, Infrastructure Platforms and Applications, were both down 8% year over year, coming in at $6.5 billion and $1.3 billion, respectively.

Cisco's stock has gained just 5% in the past year, trailing the nearly 22% gain for the S&P 500 and even further behind the performance of Amazon, Microsoft and Alphabet.

CEO Chuck Robbins told CNBC in November that large customers are pausing spending plans because of global economic uncertainties related to Brexit and the U.S.-China trade deal. In Davos last month, at the World Economic Forum, Robbins said in an interview that while the domestic economy is strong, "we've also seen other indicators that outside the U.S. it's a little more sluggish."

WATCH: CNBC'S interview with Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins

Watch CNBC's full Davos interview with Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins
VIDEO9:3209:32
Watch CNBC's full Davos interview with Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins