Cisco shares have fallen 7.3% postmarket after guiding for minimal rises in revenue in the next quarter. Otherwise, revenue grew 4.6% to $13.4bn; excluding the divested Service Provider Video Software Solutions business, it grew 6%.
Net income fell 42%, to $2.2bn in its Q4. For Q1, it's guiding for revenue growth of 0% to 2% (implying $13.1bn-$13.36bn with gross margin of 64-65%, operating margin of 32-33%.
Revenue by geographic segment was: Americas up 9%, EMEA up 7%, and APJC down 4%. Product revenue performance was broad based with growth in Security, up 14%, Applications, up 11%, and Infrastructure Platforms, up 6%.
“Our Q4 results marked a strong end to a great year. We are executing well in a dynamic environment, delivering tremendous innovation across our portfolio and extending our market leadership," said Chuck Robbins, chairman and CEO. Talking to analysts, he says: "Cybersecurity continues to be the top priority for our customers driving another consecutive quarter of double-digit growth. As the industry leader in networking and cybersecurity we're investing in and extending our subscription based security innovations across all networking domains in today's zero trust environment."
Non-GAAP gross margin was 65.5% (up from 63.2%); product gross margin rose to 64.7% from 61.9%, and service gross margin rose to 67.9% from 67.2%.
"We are pleased with our solid execution and performance in Q4, delivering revenue growth of 6%, non-GAAP EPS growth of 19%, and strong margins," said Kelly Kramer (pictured), CFO of Cisco. "We continue to transform our business model with software subscriptions now at 70% of our software revenue. The returns on our investments in key strategic areas position Cisco for long-term growth and shareholder value."
