Cisco (CSCO)

[winston]

not vested

Cisco Systems Inc <CSCO.O> jumped 5.3 percent to $18.54 in premarket trade, after the world's biggest networking equipment maker forecast revenue and earnings above expectations for its fiscal second quarter.

Source: Reuters

[winston]

Not vested. I have watched Cisco's comments on and off over the years. Am never comfortable with them ...

On Fast Money, CNBC:-

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Cisco(CSCO_) shares were up in after-hours trading on Wednesday after it posted a strong earnings report.

The networking equipment maker posted a revenue and earnings beat while raising its dividend.

Pete Najarian said on CNBC's "Fast Money" TV show that Cisco has stabilized and is benefiting from a return of enterprise spending.

Ron Insana said Cisco stock had telegraphed the company's turnaround for some time. He also said Cisco CEO John Chambers has managed the restructuring quite well.

Tim Seymour said the earnings results vindicate what Chambers has been doing to reshape the company and put him back in a position where his comments on such matters as government spending have to be listened to.

Seymour said Cisco has reinvented itself as it focuses on its core business of routing, switching and services. Karen Finerman said the stock is definitely worth a look because its valuation is not stretched in anyway.

Source: The Street

[iam802]

..

Seymour said Cisco has reinvented itself as it focuses on its core business of routing, switching and services. Karen Finerman said the stock is definitely worth a look because its valuation is not stretched in anyway.

Source: The Street

'Reinvent'?

Or did they lose track of their core business? Or did they fail to move away from their core business?

'Reinvent' is more like AAPL going into MP3 players, mobile phone market. Or Nokia, from way back, becoming a mobile device company.

So, where's the huge growth for CSCO again?

[iam802]

The low-end and home market should not be a focus for CISCO in the first place.
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Cisco Said to Hire Barclays to Sell Linksys Division

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/201 ... ision.html

Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO), the largest maker of equipment for computer networks, has hired Barclays Plc (BARC) to find a buyer for Linksys, which makes routers for home wireless access, said people with knowledge of the situation.

The unit may attract the interest of TV set makers seeking a recognized brand and technology, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the process isn’t public. Linksys is likely to fetch much less than the $500 million Cisco paid for it in 2003 because it is a mature consumer business with low margins, the people said.

Karen Tillman, a spokeswoman for San Jose, California-based Cisco, and Marc Hazelton, a spokesman for London-based Barclays, declined to comment.

Cisco wants to sell Linksys as part of its strategy to exit consumer businesses while expanding in corporate software and technology services. Chief Executive Officer John Chambers eliminated 7,800 jobs over the past year and closed businesses such as the Flip video-camera unit amid a slowdown in sales growth after a foray into consumer technologies backfired.

In addition to Linksys, Cisco also operates in the home market with its Scientific Atlanta set-top-box unit and with NDS Group Ltd., a software maker for paid-television channels used by British Sky Broadcasting Group, Canal Plus and DirecTV. Cisco bought NDS in July for $5 billion.

Barclays is also advising Google Inc. (GOOG) on the sale of its Motorola Home Business, which sells set-top-boxes and equipment to cable-television-providers.

[iam802]

12,300 jobs cut in 2 years and a narrowing margins.

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Cisco Cutting Jobs as Revenue Forecast Misses Estimates

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/201 ... emand.html

Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO), the biggest maker of networking equipment, said it’s cutting about 5 percent of its workforce after issuing a fiscal first-quarter sales forecast that missed most analysts’ estimates.

Cisco is eliminating 4,000 jobs as weaker sales in Japan, China and Europe weigh on revenue growth, Chief Executive Officer John Chambers said on a conference call today. Revenue for the current quarter through October will be $12.2 billion to $12.5 billion, the San Jose, California-based company said in a statement. Analysts on average were projecting sales of $12.5 billion for the current period.

Chambers is grappling with concerns that Cisco’s growth rate may slow as companies and network operators postpone costly overhauls of their networks. The results suggest the CEO is struggling to deliver on his turnaround plan for the company, said Bill Kreher, an analyst at Edward Jones & Co. in St. Louis, Missouri.

“The guidance is below the long-term plan, which can be concerning,” said Kreher, who has a hold rating on Cisco shares. “Cisco has eliminated low-hanging fruit and has effectively managed their costs, but looking forward the company must continually find ways to generate new sources of revenue.”

Cisco fell as much as 11 percent in extended trading. The shares advanced less than 1 percent to $26.38 the close in New York, leaving them up 34 percent this year.

Global Impact

While Cisco is benefiting from growing use of Web video and mobile devices that strain data networks and require the purchase of more routers, switches and servers, that hasn’t been enough to make up for weaker sales outside the U.S. Slower world economic growth impacts Cisco because the company gets 42 percent of its sales outside the U.S. and Canada, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

“I’m real pleased with our momentum in the market -- it’s just not growing as fast as we need,” Chambers said on the call.

Profit excluding some items was 52 cents a share in the fiscal fourth quarter, while revenue rose 6 percent to $12.4 billion. Analysts on average had projected profit of 51 cents and sales of $12.4 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

With the new cuts, Cisco will have eliminated 12,300 jobs over the past two years as it has exited consumer businesses while expanding on corporate software and technology services, including cuts of 500 jobs announced in March.

Net income rose 18 percent to $2.27 billion, or 42 cents a share, from $1.92 billion, or 36 cents, a year earlier.

Competitive Pressure

“If there’s something wrong somewhere in Cisco, given how well things have been going, investors would expect Cisco to make up the difference somewhere else,” said Jayson Noland, an analyst at Robert W. Baird & Co. in San Francisco who has an outperform rating on the stock, the equivalent of a buy.

Cisco is also facing increased competition from companies including Palo Alto Networks Inc. (PANW), Arista Networks Inc. and Huawei Technologies Co. in its core routing and switching markets, as well as security.

Margins are also narrowing. Gross profit margin in the just-ended fiscal year was 60.6 percent, down from 70.1 percent a decade ago.

Another reason for weaker profit growth and margins is Cisco’s entry into the computer-server business, where prices and margins are lower. It’s also expanding into markets such as computer security, where Cisco faces specialized competitors with advanced technologies. In July Cisco agreed to buy Sourcefire Inc., a maker of anti-hacking technology used by the U.S. government, for $2.7 billion. Sourcefire competes with companies such as Palo Alto Networks and Fortinet Inc. (FTNT)

Over the past three years, Cisco has spent $10.61 billion buying 59 companies, including $5 billion last year on NDS Group Ltd., whose technologies are used to deliver and secure pay-TV content, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

[winston]

Big Tech favorite Cisco is up more than 40% in two years.

[winston]

not vested

7 Cash-Rich Stocks to Buy: Cisco Systems (CSCO)

Total Cash & Investments: $54 billion

Network equipment-maker Cisco Systems (CSCO) isn’t quite the high-flying, rapid-growth tech stock it once was back in the 1990s. But that’s OK, because today it’s simply a mature cash cow with more money than you can imagine.

Cisco holds $54 billion in cash and short-term investments in its coffers, accounting for a substantial amount of Cisco’s $146 billion market cap. CSCO stock trades for just under $30 per share, but the cash on its books alone is worth $10.70 per share.

CSCO, largely by virtue of its enormous cash pile, is arguably one of the best value stocks to buy on Wall Street today. Cisco stock’s price-to-earnings ratio sits just below 17, more than a 20% discount to the S&P 500’s multiple of 21.5.

But when you back out its cash, CSCO stock trades at a mere 10.3 times trailing earnings. Not too shabby in a frothy market like today’s. That looks a whole lot more attractive when you add in the nearly 3% dividend yield.

With Cisco also playing a heavy role in the Internet of Things — a market outgoing CEO John Chambers expects will have a $19 trillion economic impact by 2020 — Cisco has a ton of potential, not just a ton of money.

Source: Investor Place

[winston]

not vested

Rock-Solid Stocks to Buy: Cisco (CSCO)

MarketMarket Cap: $143 billion
Sector: Technology
YTD Performance: +3%

Cisco (CSCO) has been a pain for many investors over the last few years. The tech stock has made overtures about restructuring for years now, with thousands of Cisco layoffs an annual occurrence dating back to the summer of 2011.

But Cisco stock investors have reason to be optimistic as the company approaches its next earnings report this Wednesday.

CEO John Chambers showed a lot of swagger after Cisco earnings in February — and CSCO responded with a huge pop as a result — and the company seems to be rallying in recent weeks.

There’s good reason for investor optimism. Cisco’s networking dominance has made it the clear market share leader in cloud infrastructure — the servers and technology that make the cloud possible — with 14% of total revenues in this category to top both Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) and International Business Machines (IBM).

As for security, Cisco continues to grow ambitiously in this category with efforts that include the well-timed acquisition of Sourcefire in 2013. Being on the right side of these important tech trends will help Cisco’s future earnings.

Then, there are the dividends.

Since instituting its dividend in 2011, Cisco has increased its payout five times — from an initial 6-cent quarterly payout to its current 21 cents per share. That 250% increase in about four years would be impressive enough, but dividend distributions are still under 40% of projected 2015 earnings.

That means payouts are not just sustainable, but likely to increase. Not bad considering the current dividend yield for Cisco is at 3%. And with almost $54 billion in cash and investments on the books, there is plenty of dry powder to fuel future dividends and buybacks in any environment.

Throw in restructuring efforts to cut costs and an attractive forward P/E ratio of about 12.4, and CSCO stock seems a strong value play right now — and most importantly, one of the few tech stocks you won’t have to overpay to own.

Source: Investor Place

[winston]

not vested

4 Reasons Cisco Stock Is Perfect for Dividend Investors

Cisco stock is the sleeper dividend investment everyone should own

By Brian Nichols

Source: Investor Place

http://investorplace.com/2015/11/5-stoc ... kQj1LcrKM8

[winston]

not vested

Stocks to Watch: Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO)

Cisco (CSCO) released its latest earnings report in mid-November and, while the results came in above estimates for both EPS and revenue, the stock dropped on its report date.

While “new tech” has been hot over the past few years, “old tech” — like Cisco — is still shining given the recent earnings results from Microsoft (MSFT) and Intel (INTC).

Shares have been in a strong uptrend following August’s low, and the stock made a push toward its 52-week high in October.

CSCO dropped below its 200-day moving average after releasing earnings, but the 50-day moving average is in a strong uptrend and recently formed a golden cross by pushing through the 200-day moving average.

Bullish traders could use December or January call options to play a possible run to $30 by the end of the year. Shares previously failed to clear resistance at $29.50, and a move above this level should lead to a run past $30 and 52-week highs.

Source: Investor Place