Wednesday, February 14, 2018

Cisco returns to growth, announces $25 billion stock repurchase plan

Cisco reported revenue of $11.9 billion for its second quarter of fiscal 2018, net loss on a generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) basis of $(8.8) billion or $(1.78) per share, and non-GAAP
net income of $3.1 billion or $0.63 per share.

Due to the recently passed tax reform legislation, Cisco took a $11.1 billion charge.

Cisco has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.33 per common share, a 4-cent increase or up 14% over the previous quarter’s dividend.

Cisco’s board of directors has also approved a $25 billion increase to the authorization of the stock repurchase program.

“We had a great quarter which demonstrates that our strategy is working. Our business is growing, we have a fantastic innovation pipeline, our balance sheet is strong and we have a team that’s executing incredibly well,” said Chuck Robbins, Chairman and CEO, Cisco. “The network is more critical to business success than ever, and our new intent-based networking portfolio has great momentum including the fastest ramping new product in our history.”

Some highlights:

GAAP total gross margin and product gross margin were 63.1% and 61.5%, respectively. Product gross margin increased compared with 61.1% in the second quarter of fiscal 2017.

The total customer base for Catalyst 9000 switching platform more than doubled to reach over 3,100.

Product customer segment revenue:

  • Enterprise +3%
  • Public Sector +8%
  • Commercial +14%
  • Service Provider (-5%)

Revenue growth by geography:

  • Americas +6%
  • EMEA +6%
  • APJC 0%

There was $5.5 billion in deferred revenue from recurring software subscriptions, up 36% yoy.