Cisco’s Security Business, Service Provider Wins Propel Fiscal 4Q Results

Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins’ efforts to make the company less reliant upon its infrastructure sales and transform it into software powerhouse appears to be getting some traction. The company reported strong fiscal fourth-quarter 2018 earnings, posting quarterly revenues of $12.8 billion, a 6 percent increase year over year, and non-GAAP earnings per share of 70 cents. For the fiscal year the company reported revenues of $49.3 billion, which is an increase of 3 percent over the previous year. Wall Street reacted favorably to the results. The company’s stock price closed at $44.85, an increase of 2.2 percent. Perhaps the biggest star of Cisco’s quarter was its security business, which reported $627 million in revenues, an increase of 12 percent year over year. In addition, the company’s application software business revenues increased 10 percent to $1.34 billion. Cisco’s infrastructure platform business, which is home to the company’s traditional business of supplying routers and switches, increased 7 percent to $7.44 billion.