SANTA CLARA, CA/USA - MARCH 1, 2014: Cisco Facility in Silicon Valley. Cisco Systems, Inc. is an American corporation headquartered in San Jose, California that manufactures and sells computer networking equipment.
Cisco Systems share price popped on Wednesday after the company published strong quarterly results. The shares rose to a high of $47.24 in extended hours, which was about 22.34% above the lowest level in October. YTD, the stock has fallen by 27%, which is in par with the performance of the Invesco QQQ ETF.
Cisco share price rose after the company published better-than-expected quarterly results. The company’s revenue rose by 5.67% year-on-year to over $13.6 billion. This revenue figure was about $343 million higher than estimates. Its earnings per share rose to 86 cents, which was a few points above what most analysts were expecting.
Cisco’s revenue was driven by the ease of supply chains that led to higher product shipments. Product revenue rose to $10.2 billion while its service revenue was flat at $3.4 billion. Its product revenue was driven by secure and agile networks whose revenue rose by 12%.
Its internet for the future and data center revenue declined while its end-to-end security rose by 9%, helped by its unified threat management business. Total software revenue rose to $3.9 billion while subscriptions jumped by6% to $5.9 billion.
Cisco stock price rose after the company boosted its forward guidance. It expects that its revenue growth will be between 4.5% and 6.5% in the final quarter of the year. It also raised its full-year guidance.
Analysts have a bullish outlook of Cisco. Data compiled by MarketBeat shows that the average target price for Cisco is $53.68, which is about 20% above the current level. On Wednesday, analysts at Bank of America reiterated their target for the stock to $52. Cisco is seen as a good investment because of its strong dividend and buybacks. It ended the quarter with $14.7 billion stock repurchases authorized.
The daily chart shows that the CSCO stock price has been in a steady recovery in the past few days. The stock rose to a high of $46.4 in extended hours, meaning they have risen by more than 20% from the lowest level this year. It has moved above the 50-day moving average and the Ichimoku cloud. Also, the Awesome Oscillator has moved above the neutral point.
Therefore, the stock will likely continue rising as buyers target the next key resistance level at $50, which is about 15% above the current level. A drop below the support level at $43 will invalidate the bullish view.
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