Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CSCO, ETR:CIS) saw better-than-expected performance in the first quarter, according to analysts at Bank of England.
Although the software conglomerate reported a revenue decline of 5.6%, this was a better outcome than the 6.1% drop anticipated by BoE.
Cisco's earnings per share smashed consensus by $0.04, reaching $0.91.
Following the results, BoE has raised its full-year revenue guidance by around $200 million.
The investment bank highlighted three key growth drivers for Cisco: Benefits from the recent Splunk acquisition; cloud networking advancements; and a marked acceleration in Security growth.
Excluding US federal market weakness, product orders rose around 16-17% year over year in the first quarter; Splunk revenue grew by 15%; and Cisco has continued to integrate Splunk’s products while expanding its customer base by adding 1,500 new clients.
BoA noted that Cisco’s Cloud and Service Provider orders surged, with Cloud orders more than doubling.
Additionally, the company reported over $300 million in AI-related orders during the quarter and is on track to surpass its FY25 AI order target of $1 billion.
BoE reiterated a ‘buy’ rating on Cisco and has increased its price target to $72 from $60.
The stock dipped 2.6% to $57.64 on Thursday.