Report : Cisco posted profit of $2.2 billion, or 40 cents a share

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch)

Chief Executive John Chambers pointed a “cautious” spending environment

For its third fiscal quarter ended April 28, Cisco posted profit of $2.2 billion, or 40 cents a share, compared with a profit of $1.8 billion, or 33 cents a share, for the year-earlier period
Adjusted profit was 48 cents a share
Revenue was $11.6 billion, up from $10.9 billion
Analysts were expecting a profit of 47 cents a share, on revenue of $11.6 billion, according to a consensus survey by FactSet Research
For the current quarter, Cisco said it expects sales to rise to 2% to 5% year-over-year, and adjusted profit in the range of 44 cents to 46 cents a share
Analysts were expecting sales to rise 7% year-over-year, and an adjusted profit of 49 cents a share
“We are still in an uncertain environment economically,” Chambers said on a conference call, specifically citing areas of concern such as Europe, the public sector market and “conservative” information technology spending
“Europe and customer conservativism have gotten worse,” he noted
The disappointing forecast from Cisco, which dominates the networking gear market, appeared to affect the shares of other players in that space
Asked by an analyst if the “slowness” the company was seeing in the market was a short-term problem, Chambers responded, “I would say you’re going to see exactly what our customers said, which is very slow painful progress.”
Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu called the report a “let-down.”
“The quarter looks good, but the guidance is more conservative than expected,” Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu said in e-mailed comments. “This is likely more reflective of the environment as opposed to share loss