Cisco reported a strong finish to its fiscal year, with revenues in the fourth quarter to July up 8 percent year-on-year to USD 13.1 billion. Net earnings rose 15 percent to USD 3.0 billion or USD 0.71 per share, better than the company's outlook. Cisco expects the growth to continue in the new year, forecasting revenues up 5-7 percent compared to just 1 percent growth in the past year.
Cisco said it saw double-digit order growth across all customer markets and geographies. That included product order growth of 31 percent, the strongest annual increase in over a decade. Demand was strongest from the service provider and commercial sectors, with each 40 percent higher orders, while product orders in the public sector and enterprise segments rose respectively 22 and 25 percent.
Revenue growth in Q3 was strongest in the APJC region at 13 percent to USD 2.1 billion, followed by 8 percent growth in the Americas to USD 7.7 billion and 6 percent higher sales in the EMEA region at USD 3.3 billion. Product revenue increased 10 percent and service revenue rose 3 percent. Product revenue was led by growth in Infrastructure Platforms, up 13 percent, and Security, up 1 percent, while Applications fell 1 percent.
The increase was further supported by several acquisitions that closed in Q3: Slido, Sedanasys Systems, Kenna Security, Involvio and Socio Labs.
The company reported a gross margin of 63.6 percent, up from 63.2 percent a year ago. Cisco said ongoing shortages in some component supplies put pressure on the gross margin.
Cisco recorded operating cash flow of USD 4.5 billion in the quarter, up 18 percent year-on-year. The company ended the period with cash and equivalents of USD 24.5 billion. It also spent USD 2.4 billion dividends and share buybacks in the fourth quarter.
For fiscal Q1, Cisco forecast revenues up 7.5-9.5 percent year-on-year and EPS of USD 0.61-0.66. Annual revenues are expected to grow 5-7 percent and EPS increase to USD 2.72-2.84 from USD 2.50 last year.
