By Radarr Africa Business Desk
SAN JOSE, November 13 (Radarr Africa) – Cisco Systems reported record first-quarter revenue of $18.5 billion, up 24 per cent from a year earlier, and raised its full-year outlook as demand for AI networking equipment from large cloud companies accelerated.
The company, which reported results for the quarter ended October 24 after the market closed on Thursday, said its revenue and non-GAAP earnings per share posted their strongest growth in more than 15 years. GAAP net income rose 59 per cent to $4.6 billion, or $1.14 a share, up 58 per cent. Non-GAAP net income rose 39 per cent to $5.6 billion, or $1.40 a share, a record.
“We are in the very early stages of a multi-year networking supercycle,” said chief executive Chuck Robbins.
Cisco raised its expected fiscal 2027 AI infrastructure revenue from hyperscalers to $9 billion, more than double the total for fiscal 2026. It now expects full-year revenue of $74.8 billion to $75.8 billion and non-GAAP earnings per share of $5.47 to $5.53, both raised. GAAP earnings per share are forecast at $4.38 to $4.44.
Product revenue was $14.7 billion, up 32 per cent, while services revenue rose 1 per cent to $3.85 billion. Networking was the main driver, with revenue of $11.1 billion, up 43 per cent. Security revenue was $2.1 billion, up 7 per cent, collaboration was $1.1 billion, up 8 per cent, and observability was $279 million, up 2 per cent.
By region, the Americas grew 28 per cent to $11.5 billion, Europe, the Middle East and Africa grew 18 per cent to $4.5 billion, and Asia Pacific, Japan and China grew 21 per cent to $2.6 billion.
Margins widened. The non-GAAP gross margin was 65.6 per cent and the non-GAAP operating margin was a record 37.8 per cent. GAAP operating expenses fell 3 per cent to $6.2 billion, while non-GAAP operating expenses rose 2 per cent to $5.1 billion, or 27.8 per cent of revenue. Chief financial officer Mark Patterson said the business is “unlocking significant operating leverage” as it scales.
Operating cash flow rose 36 per cent to $4.4 billion. Cash and investments stood at $15.8 billion, against $15.9 billion at the end of fiscal 2026. Remaining performance obligations were $46.2 billion, up 8 per cent, and deferred revenue was $30.1 billion, up 7 per cent.
Cisco returned $3.7 billion to shareholders in the quarter. It repurchased about 18 million shares at an average price of $112.38 for $2.0 billion, leaving $6.1 billion of buyback authorisation with no expiry date, and paid $1.7 billion in dividends. The board declared a quarterly dividend of $0.42 a share, payable on January 20, 2027, to holders of record on January 4, 2027.
For the second quarter, Cisco expects revenue of $18.0 billion to $18.2 billion and non-GAAP earnings per share of $1.34 to $1.36. It also said it closed its acquisition of WideField Security, a privately held security company.
