Cisco’s Stock Rallied After It Announced Earnings — and More Layoffs

Key Takeaways

• Cisco is cutting 7% of its workforce, months after revealing a 5% cut in February.

• The company’s fiscal fourth-quarter results beat revenue and earnings expectations.

• The results were helped by Cisco’s $28 billion acquisition of cybersecurity firm Splunk in March.

Cisco Systems (CSCO) is cutting about 7% of its workforce as it pivots to higher-growth areas like cybersecurity and artificial intelligence (AI), the company announced in an SEC filing alongside its fiscal fourth-quarter results.

The move comes after the networking-equipment provider revealed a 5% cut in February that affected roughly 4,250 employees.

In its fiscal fourth quarter, Cisco posted revenue of $13.6 billion, down 10% year-over-year, and earnings per share (EPS) of $0.54, down 44%. The dips weren’t as bad as analysts had projected, though, per Visible Alpha.

The company projects fiscal 2025 revenue of $55 billion to $56.2 billion and EPS of $1.93 to $2.05. Analysts were looking for $55.6 billion and $2.30 per share, respectively.

Quarterly subscription revenue was $27.4 billion, including revenue from cybersecurity firm Splunk, which Cisco acquired for $28 billion in March. That amounted to more than half of the company’s total sales.

Shares of Cisco rose more than 5% in after-hours trading Wednesday after inching higher during the regular session.

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