Cisco 3rd-Quarter Profit Matches Estimates

Cisco Systems Inc. reported that its third-quarter profit rose 54%, matching analysts’ expectations, on sales growth that slowed to 52%. The No. 1 computer-networking equipment maker said net income for the period ended April 26 rose to $378.3 million, or 55 cents a share, from $245.6 million, or 37 cents, a year ago. The latest figure includes a pretax gain from a stock sale worth $32.3 million, or 3 cents a share. Without that special gain, net income was 52 cents a share, which was the consensus forecast of Wall Street analysts. The closely watched sequential revenue growth was up 3.5% from the second quarter’s $1.59 billion. That’s slightly below most analysts’ expectations for quarter-to-quarter revenue growth of 4% to 5%. San Jose-based Cisco shares fell $1.25 to close at $57.75 on Nasdaq.