When you"re as big as Cisco Systems Inc, affecting a company-wide strategic turnaround takes some time. As the company reported its first fiscal quarter results yesterday, CEO John Chambers gave the latest chapter in his "show-me economy" story, saying eight-quarter-old strategies are bearing fruit, but hinting that the immediate future may not be rosy, Kevin Murphy writes.
On the positive side, Cisco reported net income for the three months to October 26 of $618m, up from a net loss of $268m a year ago, on revenue that was flat sequentially but up 9% on last year at $4.8bn.
On the negative side, the firm"s book-to-bill ratio was "down more than a little bit" below 1, and Chambers said sales in the current quarter will be flat to down between 3% and 4%, as visibility into enterprises "continues to contract."
"In areas we can control or influence... I continue to be more optimistic than I was going to the last quarter... my confidence is continuing to increase," Chambers said in a conference call with analysts and investors yesterday.
"However, from an external perspective, customers are becoming more cautious as visibility into their own businesses continues to contract," Chambers added. "From that point of view, I have more caution than in previous quarters."