Cisco, the networking king and economic bellwether, cleared better-than-expected earnings of $2.09 billion, or 39 cents a share, up 10.6% year-over-year, in its first fiscal quarter, which closed at the end of October. Revenues were up 5.5% to $11.9 billion despite depressed demand in key markets like Europe, down 10%, and long-term threats from widgetry like software-defined networking.
CEO John Chambers called the economy “challenging.”
Cisco’s core switching and routing sales, representing 47% of revenue, both declined 2% year-over-year, to $3.6 billion and $2.1 billion respectively.