Cisco Beats Q3 Estimates

reported better-than-expected results for the third quarter on Wednesday. The San Jose, California-based company posted quarterly net income of $2.4 billion, or $0.47 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $2.2 billion, or $0.42 per share. Excluding one-time items, the company earned $0.54 per share. Its revenue rose to $12.14 billion from $11.5 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.53 per share on revenue of $12.07 billion. The average estimate among 93 Estimize users was for earnings of $0.54 per share and revenue of $12.12 billion. Product sales climbed to $9.33 billion, versus $8.8 billion in the year-ago quarter. Cash flow from operations fell to $3.0 billion for the third quarter, from $3.2 billion in the year-ago quarter. At the end of the third quarter, the company had $54.4 billion in cash and cash equivalents and investments, versus $53.0 billion at the end of the second quarter of fiscal 2015. During the quarter, Cisco repurchased around 35 million shares of common stock for an aggregate purchase price of $1.0 billion. "I feel great about the quarter. We executed well and the strategy is working," said Kelly Kramer, Cisco executive vice president and CFO. "We saw good balance again across our portfolio and delivered revenues of $12.1 billion up 5%, and grew earnings per share faster than revenue. We continued our strong cash generation and returned another $2.1 billion to our shareholders. We're well positioned in the market, managing the company well, and focused on delivering value for our customers and shareholders. It's an exciting time." Cisco shares rose 0.17 percent to $29.40 in the after-hours trading session.