Cisco's earnings dip
Cisco reports a slight drop in first-quarter earnings as the company took a one-time acquisition charge.
Cisco, a leading networking equipment maker, reported net earnings of $180.9 million, or 26 cents a share, for the quarter ending October 26, compared with profits of $181.4 million or 28 cents a share a year earlier.
But excluding a one-time charge for the acquisition of Telebit--a company that provides dial-access solutions--and the sale of some investment securities, Cisco earned $320.8 million, or 47 cents a share, for the quarter. Analysts had estimated earnings of 46 cents per share.
The company, meanwhile, reported revenues of $1.43 billion for the quarter, up from $798.3 million a year ago.
Cisco acquired Granite Systems during the quarter for its Gigabit Ethernet switching technology and Nashoba Networks for its token ring switching technologies.
The company also launched NetBeyond, which delivers high-performance local area network hubs and switches for Internet access. NetBeyond is designed to round out Cisco's product line for small businesses, allowing customers to realign their products and technologies as they change their networks.