Here's the post from CBS.Marketwatch.com on CSCO.
cbs.marketwatch.com
<<Cisco net up 40% on sales growth
By Chris Kraeuter, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 4:49 PM ET Aug. 10, 2004
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS.MW) -- Cisco Systems boosted its fiscal fourth-quarter net income 40 percent as demand grew for its networking equipment.
Sales for the San Jose, Calif.-based company (CSCO: news, chart, profile) surged 25 percent to $5.9 billion.
Cisco's shares slipped 2.4 percent to $19.96 in late trading after closing the regular session up 2 percent to $20.46.
For the quarter ending July 31, the company reported net income of $1.38 billion, or 20 cents per share. Excluding charges, it earned 21 cents a share.
During the same quarter last year, Cisco earned $982 million, or 14 cents per share, on sales of $4.7 billion. Excluding charges, Cisco earned 15 cents a share.
Analysts expected earnings, excluding charges, of 20 cents a share and sales of $5.89 billion, according to Thomson First Call's average estimates.
Gross margins were 68.4 percent, within a range of 67 to 69 percent the company targeted. Product gross margin was 68.6 percent. During the previous quarter, overall gross margin was 68.8 percent and product gross margin was 69.3 percent.
Chief Financial Officer Dennis Powell said the sequential decrease in product gross margin was due to sales discounts and an increase in inventory position.
Inventory rose 7.1 percent to $1.2 billion from $1.12 billion in the previous quarter. However, inventory turns, or orders placed and fulfilled in the quarter, improved to 6.4 times from 6.3 times in the third quarter.
Operating cash flow was $2.1 billion, down from the company's third-quarter record of $2.4 billion, but up from $1.5 billion in the fourth quarter last year.
Cisco repurchased 90 million shares of stock for a total of $2 billion. For the full year, the company spent $9.1 billion to buy back 408 million shares.
For the full year, Cisco earned $4.4 billion, or 62 cents a share, on sales of $22 billion. During 2003, Cisco earned $3.6 billion, or 50 cents a share, on sales of $18.9 billion.>> |
