By Rex Crum, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Tech bellwether Cisco Systems
Inc. flexed its muscles Thursday as investors got behind the
networking giant after its latest quarterly report, but the
company's gains failed to ignite a rally across the tech
sector.
Cisco (CSCO) shares climbed 7%, to $24.40, after the company
reported late Wednesday a fiscal third-quarter profit of $2.2
billion, or 42 cents a share, on revenue of $11.5 billion.
Excluding one-time items, Cisco said it earned 51 cents a share.
Analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast Cisco to earn 48 cents a
share on $11.36 billion in sales.
On a conference call to discuss Cisco's results, Chief Executive
John Chambers said the company was focused on its outlook and the
potential positive impact from new products.
Following Cisco's results, analyst Alex Kurtz, of Sterne Agee,
bumped up his price target on Cisco's stock to $26 a share from
$25. Kurtz said that Cisco's "continued execution in DC [data
centers] could help investors buy in to management's longer-term
strategy."
But even a sector leader like Cisco couldn't spur enthusiasm for
the rest of the tech sector. Nearly every other major tech
company's shares fell, including Apple Inc. (AAPL), Facebook Inc.
(FB), Netflix Inc. (NFLX) and Microsoft Corp. (MSFT).
The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) was down by 51 points at
4,049, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) shed
1.5%.
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