Network upgrades power Cisco

Article Excerpt

CISCO SYSTEMS INC. $24 (Nasdaq symbol CSCO; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 5.4 billion; Market cap: $129.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.7; Dividend yield 2.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.cisco.com) is a leading maker of hardware and software that links and manages computer networks. The company’s hardware includes routers, local area network (LAN) and asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) switches, and server computers. Cisco mainly sells this equipment to large businesses and government agencies. The company continues to profit as wireless carriers upgrade their networks to handle rising demand for video and other media. Cisco is also benefiting from a major restructuring plan, which included selling its low-margin consumer products businesses and focusing on more profitable operations, like software. Mobile boom spurs results Cisco’s revenue rose 34.6%, from $36.1 billion in 2009 to $48.6 billion in 2013 (fiscal years end July 31). Earnings jumped 77.1%, from $6.1 billion to $10.9 billion. Due to fewer shares outstanding, earnings per share…