Upcoming AWS Coverage on Palo Alto Networks Post-Earnings Results

LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / November 28, 2016 / Active Wall St. announces its post-earnings coverage on Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO). The company reported its financial results for the first quarter fiscal 2017 (Q1 FY17) on November 15, 2016. The networking-equipment giant surpassed both top-line and bottom-line expectations. Register with us now for your free membership at: http://www.activewallst.com/register/.

One of Cisco Systems' competitors within the Networking & Communication Devices space, Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NYSE: PANW), announced on November 21, 2016, its financial results for fiscal first quarter 2017 ended October 31, 2016. AWS will be initiating a research report on Palo Alto Networks in the coming days.

Today, AWS is promoting its earnings coverage on CSCO; touching on PANW. Get our free coverage by signing up to:

http://www.activewallst.com/registration-3/?symbol=CSCO
http://www.activewallst.com/registration-3/?symbol=PANW

Earnings Reviewed

During the quarter ended on October 29th, 2016, Cisco reported total revenue of $12.35 billion compared to revenue of $12.68 billion in the year ago period, slightly ahead of analysts' forecasts of $12.34 billion. The company's product revenue (approximately 75% of total revenue) declined 1% to $9.30 billion, while service revenue grew by 7% on a y-o-y basis to $3.05 billion. On a geographical basis, revenue from the Americas fell 1%, while EMEA's revenue numbers were flat and those for APJC was up 6%.

For Q1 FY17, Cisco's product revenue performance was led by Security and NGN Routing which increased 11% and 6%, respectively. Switching decreased 7%, Collaboration and Data Center each decreased 3%, and Wireless and Service Provider Video each decreased 2%. On the basis of customer segments, Cisco's enterprise segment advanced 5%, commercial grew 1%, while public sector was flat and service provider fell 12%.

Cisco's GAAP operating income was $2.9 billion in Q1 FY17, down 7%, while GAAP operating margin came in at 23.3%. Cisco reported net income of $2.32 billion, or $0.46 per share, for Q1 FY17 compared to net income in the year-earlier period of $2.43 billion, or $0.48 per share. Excluding restructuring charges and other one-time items, Cisco's adjusted earnings came in at $0.61 per share, up 3% on a y-o-y basis and above analysts' expectations of $0.59 per share. During Q1 FY17, Cisco's cash flow from operating activities was $2.7 billion, a decrease of 1% compared to $2.8 billion in Q1 FY16.

Margin Matters

For Q1 FY17, Cisco's total gross margin and product gross margin were 63.8% and 63.4%, respectively. The increase in the product gross margin compared to 60.9% in Q1 FY16 was attributed to continued productivity improvements and the divestiture of the SP Video CPE Business, but partially offset by pricing and to a lesser extent product mix. The company's GAAP service margin was 65.1% and non-GAAP service gross margin was 66.2% in the reported quarter.

Balance Sheet

As of October 29th, 2016, Cisco had cash and cash equivalent of $71.0 billion compared to $65.8 billion at the end of fiscal 2016. The total cash, cash equivalents, and investments available in the United States at the end of Q1 FY17 were $10.4 billion. The company's deferred revenue was reported at $17.0 billion, up 12% in total, with deferred product revenue up 19%, driven largely by subscription-based and software offerings. Deferred service revenue was up 8%.

During Q1 FY17, Cisco declared and paid a cash dividend of $0.26 per common share, or $1.3 billion. For Q1 FY17, Cisco repurchased approximately 32 million common stocks under its share repurchase program at an average price of $31.12 per share.

As of October 29, 2016, Cisco had repurchased and retired 4.6 billion shares of Cisco's common stock at an average price of $21.11 per share for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $97.6 billion since the inception of the stock repurchase program. The remaining authorized amount for stock repurchases under this program is approximately $14.4 billion with no termination date.

Guidance

For Q2 FY17, Cisco is expecting adjusted earnings in the range of $0.55 to $0.57 per share; the company is anticipating that revenue would decline 2% to 4%, excluding the effects of a business in video delivery gear that was divested in 2015. Analysts are forecasting adjusted earnings of $0.59 per share on revenue of $12.16 billion.

Stock Performance

Cisco Systems' share price finished Friday's trading session at $30.07, climbing 1.21%. A total volume of 17.68 million shares exchanged hands. The stock has advanced 5.79% and 14.23% in the last six months and past twelve months, respectively. Furthermore, since the start of the year, shares of the company have gained 14.56%. The stock is trading at a PE ratio of 14.35 and has a dividend yield of 3.46%.

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SOURCE: Active Wall Street