Cisco Systems is expected to report solid sales and earnings after the bell Wednesday. Enterprise Networking Planet has the full preview and takes a closer look at what the network-equipment maker’s earnings and forecast means for the rest of the IT industry.
Is the market for networking gear in recovery? It’s a question that will partially be answered today when networking giant Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) reports its second-quarter fiscal 2010 revenues.
During Cisco’s first-quarter investor call, CEO John Chambers provided revenue guidance
for its second fiscal quarter of an increase in the range of 1 percent to 4 percent, compared to a year earlier.
Wall Street analysts predict earnings of $0.35 per share, according to Thomson Financial — an upswing from the $0.32 it posted a year ago, when revenue topped $9.1 billion.
UBS analyst Nikos Theodosopoulos expects Cisco to come in at the high end of its guidance. In a research note, Theodosopoulos wrote that strength in the U.S. from both service providers and enterprise customers will help drive Cisco’s results. Still, UBS noted that it does not expect Cisco to have the same degree of upside growth as rival vendor Juniper, since service provider revenues represent a greater percentage of revenue for Juniper than Cisco.
If Cisco makes good on those predictions, it will be the second major sign from networking vendors that a turnaround may be near.Juniper reported its fourth-quarter 2009 earnings last week, with revenue of revenue of $941.5 million, up by 2 percent on a year-over-year basis.
Executives noted that they see the market for networking improving, led in part by the service provider segment.
