Cisco Reports First Quarter Earnings

SAN JOSE, CA--(Marketwire - November 4, 2009) -  Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO)

• Q1 Net Sales: $9.0 billion (decrease of 13% year over year)

• Q1 Net Income: $1.8 billion GAAP; $2.1 billion non-GAAP

• Q1 Earnings per Share: $0.30 GAAP (decrease of 19% year over year); $0.36 non-GAAP (decrease of 14% year over year)

• Total Cash, Cash Equivalents and Investments: $35.4 billion

Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO), the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate, today reported its first quarter results for the period ended October 24, 2009. Cisco reported first quarter net sales of $9.0 billion, net income on a generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) basis of $1.8 billion or $0.30 per share, and non-GAAP net income of $2.1 billion or $0.36 per share.

Commenting on the quarter, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John Chambers noted, "Building off what we saw as a clear tipping point in Q4, our Q1 results continued to reflect strong sequential growth trends that meet or exceed expectations during normal economic times. We view the improving economic outlook, combined with solid execution on our growth strategy, as creating unparalleled opportunity to drive more value into the core of the network. Simply said, we believe that key market transitions across collaboration, virtualization and video will drive productivity and growth in network loads for the next decade, and are evolving even faster than expected."

Chambers continued, "Our ability to launch four proposed acquisitions, the ecosystem-shifting coalition with EMC/VMware, and five new products and industry solutions into the Cisco pipeline in the past few months alone underscore this momentum. Our build -- buy -- partner innovation engine is clearly running on all cylinders, while our operational machine is pulling costs out of the business even as we scale new models for growth. Execution and results over time will demonstrate the long-term impact of this vision and strategy -- but a new model of productivity based on collaboration is clearly emerging and we believe this may be the most profound opportunity for businesses in our 25 years as a company."

GAAP Results Q1 2010 Q1 2009 Vs. Q1 2009 Net Sales $9.0 billion $10.3 billion -12.7% Net Income $1.8 billion $2.2 billion -18.8% Earnings per Share $0.30 $0.37 -18.9% Non-GAAP Results Q1 2010 Q1 2009 Vs. Q1 2009 Net Income $2.1 billion $2.5 billion -15.3% Earnings per Share $0.36 $0.42 -14.3%

In October 2009, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued new accounting guidance related to revenue recognition. Cisco elected to adopt this accounting guidance early on a prospective basis for transactions originating or materially modified in the first quarter of fiscal 2010. Net sales for the first quarter of fiscal 2010 were approximately $50 million higher than the net sales that would have been recorded under the previous accounting guidance.

A reconciliation between net income on a GAAP basis and non-GAAP net income is provided in the table on page 6.

Cisco will discuss first quarter results and business outlook on a conference call and webcast at 1:30 p.m. Pacific Time today. Call information and related charts are available athttp://www.cisco.com/go/investors. A Q&A session with Cisco's Chairman and CEO John Chambers and CFO Frank Calderoni will also be available at http://newsroom.cisco.com. To view a video of Cisco's CFO discussing first quarter results, visit http://blogs.cisco.com.

Stock Repurchase Program Expanded

Cisco also announced that on November 4, 2009 its board of directors authorized up to $10 billion in additional repurchases of its common stock. Cisco's board had previously authorized up to $62 billion in stock repurchases. There is no fixed termination date for the repurchase program. The remaining authorized amount for stock repurchases under this program, including the additional authorization, is approximately $13.1 billion.

Other Financial Highlights

• Cash flows from operations were $1.5 billion for the first quarter of fiscal 2010, compared with $2.7 billion for the first quarter of fiscal 2009, and compared with $2.0 billion for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009.

• Cash and cash equivalents and investments were $35.4 billion at the end of the first quarter of fiscal 2010, compared with $35.0 billion at the end of fiscal 2009.

• During the first quarter of fiscal 2010, Cisco repurchased 76 million shares of common stock under the stock repurchase program at an average price of $22.99 per share for an aggregate purchase price of $1.8 billion. As of October 24, 2009, Cisco had repurchased and retired 2.9 billion shares of Cisco common stock at an average price of $20.47 per share for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $58.9 billion since the inception of the stock repurchase program.

• Days sales outstanding in accounts receivable (DSO) at the end of the first quarter of fiscal 2010 were 32 days, compared with 34 days at the end of the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009, and compared with 29 days at the end of the first quarter of fiscal 2009.

• Inventory turns on a GAAP basis were 11.6 in the first quarter of fiscal 2010, compared with 11.7 in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009, and compared with 11.9 in the first quarter of fiscal 2009. Non-GAAP inventory turns were 11.3 in the first quarter of fiscal 2010, compared with 11.3 in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009, and compared with 11.6 in the first quarter of fiscal 2009.

"Cisco's strong first quarter results represent two quarters of sequentially positive revenue growth and demonstrate our ability to execute on our innovation and operational excellence priorities," said Frank Calderoni, Cisco chief financial officer. "We delivered earnings per share on a GAAP basis of $0.30 and non-GAAP of $0.36, which were above our expectations, driven by balance across a broad portfolio and intense focus on execution. Our results validate our strategy and portfolio approach of balancing disciplined expense management with strategic investment, to drive continued profitability through varying economic environments."