Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) shares vaulted on earnings and sales figures for its third quarter.
The San Jose-based Cisco reported third quarter revenue of $12.0 billion, net income on a generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) basis of $2.8 billion or $0.65 per share, and non-GAAP net income of $3.4 billion or $0.79 per share.
On a GAAP basis, total gross margin, product gross margin, and service gross margin were 64.9%, 63.7%, and 67.7%, respectively, as compared with 63.1%, 62.0%, and 66.3%, respectively, in the third quarter of fiscal 2019.
The company also says in the third quarter of fiscal 2020, it returned $2.5 billion to shareholders through share buybacks and dividends. Cisco declared and paid a cash dividend of $0.36 per common share, or $1.5 billion, and repurchased approximately 25 million shares of common stock under its stock repurchase program at an average price of $39.71 per share for an aggregate purchase price of $981 million. The remaining authorized amount for stock repurchases under the program is $10.8 billion with no termination date.
CEO Chuck Robbins commented, “During this extraordinary time, our priority has been supporting our employees, customers, partners and communities, while positioning Cisco for the future.
"The pandemic has driven organizations across the globe to digitize their operations and support remote workforces at a faster speed and greater scale than ever before. We remain focused on providing the technology and solutions our customers need to accelerate their digital organizations.
Shares in CSCO picked up $2.23, or 5.6%,, in the first hour, to $44.28
