Economic uncertainty hits Cisco numbers

Cisco gives negative guidance for second quarter in a row, citing a 'challenging macro environment'

Cisco has once again warned that the tech sector is being buffeted by unfavourable geopolitical winds, as it logged a disappointing Q1.

A slump in orders for new equipment meant net income dropped double digits by 18 per cent year on year to $2.9bn, leading the networking giant to issue a second consecutive quarter of negative guidance.

The Californian vendor is anticipating its Q2 revenues to drop by at least three to five per cent year on year.

In response, Wall Street knocked almost five per cent from Cisco's stock price in after-market trading.

Like for its Q4, CEO Chuck Robbins pointed the finger at a plethora of global crisis for causing uncertainty, including protectionist US trade policy, China's economic downturn, Brexit and the Hong Kong protests.

"It's a solid quarter against a challenging macro environment," he said.

Revenues were up two per cent to $13.2bn.

Broken down by geographical segment, Americas revenues were up four per cent, EMEA up four per cent, but APJC dropped by eight per cent.

Service revenue was up by four per cent, while product revenue was up by one per cent.

Within the products segment, security grew by 22 per cent, applications by six per cent, while infrastructure platforms was down one per cent.

Cisco's financials are sometimes seen as a litmus test for IT demand from enterprise customers.

Its latest forecast paints a gloomy picture. Robbins has made efforts this year to try to mitigate the impact of political instability, such as moving part of Cisco's manufacturing away from China to try and offset President Trump's tariffs.