Cisco has recorded Q2 revenue of $11.9bn, a 7% increase in the quarter ending January 24. This total beats the $11.8bn predicted by Wall Street.
The growth was triggered by strong demand for the company’s switching equipment and routers, with the company’s hardware business increasing 7.8% during the second quarter.
39% of the company’s hardware revenue came from its switching business, which makes traffic handling products used at at large internet data centres. The router business contributed 21.2% of its hardware revenue.
Cisco chairman and CEO John Chambers said, "Our Q2 results reflect continued progress as we transform Cisco to become the #1 IT company."
"In the quarter we grew revenues by 7%, with strong EPS growth, and saw the best balance of growth across all our geographies, products, and segments. We delivered this strong performance despite a volatile economic environment."
"Our strong momentum is the direct result of how well we have managed our company transformation over the last three plus years and our leadership position in the key technology transitions of cloud, mobility, big data, security, collaboration, and the Internet of Everything."
"Every nation, every company, everything is becoming digitized and the network is at the center of this transformation."
Kelly Kramer EVP and CFO said, "The momentum in the business feels good and we are excited about the opportunities ahead."
"Our revenue growth and increased EPS allows us to continue to give back to shareholders as we returned $2.2 billion to shareholders in Q2 and remain committed to returning at least 50% of our free cash flow annually."
"During the quarter, the company signed a collaboration agreement with Cisco Chile to transform Santiago into a "Smart City, and the company opened Internet of Everything (IoE) Innovation Center in Tokyo."
