Industry Updates

Cisco reported fourth quarter and fiscal year results for the period ended July 31, 2021. Cisco reported fourth-quarter revenue of $13.1 billion, net income on a generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) basis of $3.0 billion or $0.71 per share, and non-GAAP net income of $3.6 billion or $0.84 per share.

"We continue to see great momentum in our business as customers are looking to modernize their organizations for agility and resiliency," said Chuck Robbins, Chair and CEO of Cisco. "The demand for Cisco technology is strong with our Q4 performance marking the highest product order growth in over a decade. With the power of our portfolio, we are well positioned to help our customers accelerate their digital transformation and thrive in a hybrid world."

"We executed exceptionally well delivering strong results across revenue, non-GAAP net income, non-GAAP EPS and record operating cash flow," said Scott Herren, CFO of Cisco. "Our performance reflects the impact of our investments in high growth opportunities resulting in our strong product order growth. As we continue to drive our business model transformation to more recurring revenue, we now have built up over $30 billion in remaining performance obligations."

Reconciliations between net income, EPS, and other measures on a GAAP and non-GAAP basis are provided in the tables located in the section entitled "Reconciliations of GAAP to non-GAAP Measures."

Financial Summary

All comparative percentages are on a year-over-year basis unless otherwise noted.

Q4 FY 2021 Highlights

Revenue -- Total revenue was $13.1 billion, up 8%, with product revenue up 10% and service revenue up 3%. Revenue by geographic segment was: Americas up 8%, EMEA up 6%, and APJC up 13%. Product revenue was led by growth in Infrastructure Platforms, up 13% and Security, up 1%. Applications was down 1%.

Gross Margin -- On a GAAP basis, total gross margin, product gross margin, and service gross margin were 63.6%, 62.7%, and 66.2%, respectively, as compared with 63.2%, 61.2%, and 68.7%, respectively, in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2020.

On a non-GAAP basis, total gross margin, product gross margin, and service gross margin were 65.6%, 65.0%, and 67.4%, respectively, as compared with 65.0%, 63.2%, and 69.8%, respectively, in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2020.

Total gross margins by geographic segment were: 66.2% for the Americas, 65.0% for EMEA and 64.4% for APJC.

Operating Expenses -- On a GAAP basis, operating expenses were $4.8 billion, up 8%, and were 36.3% of revenue. Non-GAAP operating expenses were $4.2 billion, up 8%, and were 32.1% of revenue.

Operating Income -- GAAP operating income was $3.6 billion, up 10%, with GAAP operating margin of 27.2%. Non-GAAP operating income was $4.4 billion, up 10%, with non-GAAP operating margin at 33.5%.

Provision for Income Taxes -- The GAAP tax provision rate was 19.4%. The non-GAAP tax provision rate was 19.3%.

Net Income and EPS -- On a GAAP basis, net income was $3.0 billion, an increase of 14%, and EPS was $0.71, an increase of 15%. On a non-GAAP basis, net income was $3.6 billion, an increase of 5%, and EPS was $0.84, an increase of 5%.

Cash Flow from Operating Activities -- $4.5 billion for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2021, an increase of 18% compared with $3.8 billion for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2020.

FY 2021 Highlights

Revenue -- Total revenue was $49.8 billion, an increase of 1%.

Net Income and EPS -- On a GAAP basis, net income was $10.6 billion, a decrease of 6%, and EPS was $2.50, a decrease of 5%. On a non-GAAP basis, net income was $13.6 billion, flat compared to fiscal 2020, and EPS was flat at $3.22.

Cash Flow from Operating Activities -- $15.5 billion for fiscal 2021, flat compared with fiscal 2020.

Balance Sheet and Other Financial Highlights

Cash and Cash Equivalents and Investments -- $24.5 billion at the end of the fourth quarter of fiscal 2021, compared with $23.6 billion at the end of the third quarter of fiscal 2021, and compared with $29.4 billion at the end of fiscal 2020.

Remaining Performance Obligations -- $30.9 billion, up 9% in total. Product remaining performance obligations were up 18% and service remaining performance obligations were up 3%.

Deferred Revenue -- $22.2 billion, up 8% in total, with deferred product revenue up 19%. Deferred service revenue was up 2%.

Capital Allocation -- In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2021, we returned $2.4 billion to stockholders through share buybacks and dividends. We declared and paid a cash dividend of $0.37 per common share, or $1.6 billion, and repurchased approximately 15 million shares of common stock under our stock repurchase program at an average price of $53.30 per share for an aggregate purchase price of $791 million. The remaining authorized amount for stock repurchases under the program is $7.9 billion with no termination date.

Acquisitions

In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2021, we closed the following acquisitions:

• Slido s.r.o., a privately held company that provides an audience interaction platform.
• Sedonasys Systems Ltd., a privately held company which offers products that enable multi-vendor, multi-domain automation, and software-defined networking.
• Kenna Security, Inc., a privately held cybersecurity company that provides risk-based vulnerability management technology which enables organizations to work cross-functionally to rapidly identify, prioritize and remediate cyber risks.
• Involvio LLC, a privately held company that offers a suite of education-focused products that help colleges and universities improve student experience, engagement, and retention.
• Socio Labs, Inc., a privately held company that offers a modern event technology platform designed to power the hybrid events of the future.

Guidance

Cisco expects to achieve the following results for the first quarter of fiscal 2022:

Cisco estimates that GAAP EPS will be $0.61 to $0.66 for the first quarter of fiscal 2022.

Cisco expects to achieve the following results for fiscal 2022:

Cisco estimates that GAAP EPS will be $2.72 to $2.84 for fiscal 2022.

Our Q1 FY 2022 and FY 2022 guidance assumes an effective tax provision rate of 19% for GAAP and non-GAAP results.

A reconciliation between the Guidance on a GAAP and non-GAAP basis is provided in the tables entitled "GAAP to non-GAAP Guidance" located in the section entitled "Reconciliations of GAAP to non-GAAP Measures.

Source: https://newsroom.cisco.com/press-release-content?type=webcontent&articleId=2190704