Cisco CEO Is Comfortable with Estimates
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq:CSCO - news) Chief Executive John Chambers said on Wednesday he is comfortable with analysts' estimates for both first-quarter sales and earnings per share for the world's largest maker of Internet networking equipment.
Thirty-one analysts surveyed expect the San Jose, California-based company to earn 2 cents a share in its fiscal first quarter, with a range of a loss of 1 cent to a profit of 3 cents, according to market research firm Thomson Financial/First Call.
Thirteen analysts expect the company's revenues to be $4.16 billion, with a range of $4 billion to $4.3 billion, First Call said.
The company is scheduled to report first-quarter results on Nov. 5. The quarter ends Oct. 31.
Cisco's stock was up $2.35, or more than 20 percent, at $13.82 in heavy trading on the Nasdaq on Wednesday.
Chambers, speaking at a Goldman Sachs conference in New York, also said customer orders were on target in June, July, August and September. ``Our orders were remarkably linear in all four months,'' he said.
He said there was some disruption in orders after the Sept. 11 airplane attacks in New York and Washington, but business has been good since then.
Chambers declined to discuss how orders or results were looking beyond the fiscal first quarter. He said as the next 12 months will be so unpredictable Cisco planned to reset its budget during the fiscal year and would readjust its goals in January.
``This is an economic slowdown the likes of which we've never seen before,'' Chambers said. It occurred not on a country by country basis but by industry groups, he said. |
