Cisco Systems on Wednesday said it will beat consensus estimates for its second-quarter earnings when it reports its financial results after the financial markets close at 4pm.
The statement was prompted by what the networking equipment maker called the "inadvertent" release of positive information about the second-quarter results in a memo from a Cisco executive yesterday afternoon, the company said in a statement.
The memo, which Cisco described as an internal communication, was distributed to a large number of employees after the markets closed on Feb. 5, the statement said.
"The communication also said that Cisco's booked orders, for products only, were US$3.9 billion vs. an internal goal of $3.75 billion for the quarter," the company said in its statement. The memo didn't include specific information about revenues or earnings for the quarter.
"As previously scheduled, we will release financial results for the quarter after the close of the market today," said Cisco Chief Financial Officer Larry Carter. "So as to minimize any potential confusion, the results we announce this afternoon will exceed the current consensus estimates of earnings per share and revenues for the second quarter of our fiscal year."
"We felt it was necessary to disclose this information publicly, given the broad internal distribution of the communication," Carter added.
Analysts surveyed by Boston-based First Call/Thomson Financial said they expect earnings of 5 cents per share on revenue of between $4.5 billion and $4.6 billion.
