Cisco Beats Earnings Expectations And Increases Dividend, But Stock Still Slips

Cisco Systems Inc. announced slightly better than expected earnings results Wednesday and increased its quarterly dividend, but shares still declined a little more than 1% in late trading. The networking giant revealed fiscal second-quarter profit of $2.3 billion, or 47 cents a share, on sales of $11.58 billion. After adjustments for share-based compensation, discontinued businesses and other effects, Cisco claimed earnings of 57 cents a share. Analysts polled by FactSet on average expected Cisco to report adjusted earnings of 56 cents a share on sales of $11.55 billion. The company said it would boost its quarterly dividend to 29 cents from 26 cents, and predicted third-quarter results in line with analysts' forecasts. Shares, which closed with a 1.6% increase at $32.82, slipped to less than $32.50 in after-hours trading following the report's release.