Shares of Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) fell over 10% in Wednesday’s after-hours trading after the company reported earnings for its first quarter of Fiscal Year 2024. Earnings per share came in at $1.11, which beat analysts’ consensus estimate of $1.03 per share.
Sales increased by 7.6% year-over-year, with revenue hitting $14.67 billion. This beat analysts’ expectations by $40 million.
Looking forward, management now expects revenue and adjusted earnings per share for Q2 2024 to be in the ranges of $12.6 billion to $12.8 billion and $0.82 to $0.84, respectively.
For FY2024, the company lowered its guidance and anticipates revenue between $53.8 billion to $55.0 billion. For reference, analysts were expecting $57.89 billion. Furthermore, it predicts EPS to be in the range of $3.87 to $3.93, below the $4.05 per share estimate.
Cisco stated that the key reason for the slowdown was that customers are likely focused on installing and implementing products following three quarters of robust deliveries.
Is CSCO a Buy or Sell?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on CSCO stock based on five Buys and 12 Holds assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. Furthermore, the average CSCO price target of $59.27 per share implies 11.14% upside potential.
