Cisco beats estimates but still falls

In a sea of negativity, Cisco Systems is providing a glimmer of hope. After the market close Wednesday, Cisco detailed its second quarter of fiscal 2002 results.

Cisco reported net income of $660 million, or $0.09 per share, on revenue of $4.8 billion. For the same period last year, net income was $874 million, or $0.12 per share, on revenue of $6.7 billion. First Call had expected earnings of $0.05 per share.

But those numbers apparently overshadow the company’s belief that visibility is still poor and revenues will likely be flat over the next couple quarters. “Visibility is still very limited because our own customers’ visibility for their own revenue remains limited,” said CEO John Chambers.

As of this afternoon, Cisco shares had fallen $1.24 to $17.37 on the news.

While visibility and stock price may still be low for the company, cash on hand is not. The company closed the quarter with $7.5 billion in cash and short-term investments, compared to $7.36 billion last quarter. Long-term investments buoyed up to $12.3 billion from $10.57 billion, giving Cisco a total of $19.8 billion in cash and investments.