Cisco results show economy is in recovery
Cisco Systems reported fiscal first-quarter earnings that beat expectations with good sequential growth, giving hope that the ailing economy is on the upswing.
The network equipment maker on Wednesday reported that fiscal first-quarter profits and revenue that were down from the same quarter a year ago but up from the previous quarter.
Cisco reported a quarterly profit of $1.8 billion, or 36 cents a share, compared with a profit of $2.2 billion, or 42 cents a share, for the same quarter a year ago. Revenue for the first fiscal quarter in 2009 was $9 billion, down from $10.3 billion during the same quarter a year prior.
Analysts had expected Cisco to report earnings of 31 cents a share on revenue of $8.75 billion, according to Thomson Reuters.
Even though revenue and earnings were lower than a year ago, Cisco grew revenue and earnings, compared to the previous quarter. In the fiscal fourth quarter, Cisco reported profits of $1.1 billion, or 19 cents a share. And it reported revenue of $8.5 billion.
Cisco CEO John Chambers commented on the company's strong sequential growth, saying the gains are a good indication that economy is in recovery.
"Building off what we saw as a clear tipping point in (the fourth quarter), our (first-quarter) results continued to reflect strong sequential growth trends that meet or exceed expectations during normal economic times," he said in a statement. "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."
Marguerite Reardon has been a CNET News reporter since 2004, covering cell phone services, broadband, citywide Wi-Fi, the Net neutrality debate, as well as the ongoing consolidation of the phone companies. E-mail Maggie. 
In all honesty though they have seen the revenue climb up we must remember that the channels pretty much cleared much of their inventory and we're seeing some elasticity when the are now filling a bit more. Nothing to write home about IMHO....