Topic: How To Invest

Wall Street Stock Forecaster Hotline – Friday, November 16, 2018

Article Excerpt

CISCO SYSTEMS INC., $46.36, Nasdaq symbol CSCO, is a leading maker of hardware and software for linking and managing computer networks. In its fiscal 2019 first quarter, ended October 27, 2018, Cisco’s earnings rose 13.7%, to $3.45 billion from $3.04 billion a year earlier. During the quarter, the company spent $5.0 billion on share repurchases; as a result, earnings per share jumped 23.0%, to $0.75 from $0.61, on fewer shares outstanding. Those figures exclude costs to integrate recent acquisitions, one-time charges related to the new U.S. tax laws and other unusual items. On that basis, the latest earnings beat the consensus estimate of $0.72. Revenue in the quarter improved 7.7%, to $13.07 billion from $12.14 billion. That also beat the consensus forecast of $12.83 billion. Cisco continues to benefit as more of its corporate customers shift their computing platforms to the cloud (remote servers that users access over the Internet). That has spurred demand for its networking gear and security software. In response to new…