Cisco's 4Q Revenue Beats Expectations

Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) weighed in with fiscal fourth-quarter results that topped expectations, prompting shares to rise slightly after the market closed Wednesday.

The networking and communications-equipment maker posted net income of $1.2 billion, or 22 cents a share, down from year-ago earnings of $1.9 billion, or 33 cents a share. On an adjusted basis, earnings came in at 40 cents a share, compared with 43 cents in the fourth quarter of last year.

Revenue rose 3.3% to $11.2 billion, up from $10.84 billion in the year-ago quarter. The company saw service sales of $2.27 billion in the quarter, along with product sales of $8.92 billion.

The Street was looking for earnings of 38 cents on revenue of $10.98 billion, according to the latest analyst poll from Thomson Reuters.

"We've made significant progress on our comprehensive action plan to position ourselves for our next stage of growth and profitability, while delivering solid financial results in the fourth quarter," said John Chambers, chairman and CEO of Cisco, in a statement. "As we start our next fiscal year, you will see a very focused, agile, lean and aggressive company that is laser focused on helping our customers use intelligent networks to transform their businesses."

Cisco said fourth-quarter inventory turns were 11.8 on a GAAP basis, compared with 12.6 in the fourth-quarter of 2010. The company also said it continued its share buy-back program, repurchasing 95 million shares of its common stock during the quarter.

Shares of Cisco fell 2.3% in Wednesdays regular session, closing at $13.73, but the stock bounced back and was up slightly following the release of results. Shares are down 32%, so far this year.