Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CSCO) stock rose 1.34% (As on February 13, 11:18:32 AM UTC-4, Source: Google Finance) after the company posted a solid earnings and revenue beat, following up with strong guidance.  Net income fell 8%, but the company still reported a hefty $2.43 billion in profit from the quarter. Product orders up 29% year over year; up 11% excluding Splunk. AI Infrastructure orders were of more than $350 million, bringing the total for 1HFY25 to approximately $700 million. Revenue by geographic segment was: Americas up 9%, EMEA up 11%, and APJC up 8%. Product revenue performance reflected growth in Security up 117%, Observability up 47%, and Collaboration up 1%. Networking was down 3%. Excluding Splunk, Security and Observability grew 4% and 3%, respectively, in the second quarter of fiscal 2025.

Further, Cash Flow from Operating Activities were $2.2 billion for the second quarter of fiscal 2025, an increase of 177%, compared with $0.8 billion for the second quarter of fiscal 2024. Cash and Cash Equivalents and Investments were $16.9 billion at the end of the second quarter of fiscal 2025, compared with $17.9 billion at the end of fiscal 2024.

CSCO in the second quarter of FY 25 has reported the adjusted earnings per share of 94 cents, beating the analysts’ estimates for the adjusted earnings per share of 91 cents. The company had reported the adjusted revenue growth of 9 percent to $13.99 billion in the second quarter of FY 25, beating the analysts’ estimates for revenue of $13.87 billion. On a non-GAAP basis, total gross margin, product gross margin, and services gross margin were 68.7%, 67.7%, and 71.6%, respectively, as compared with 66.7%, 65.2%, and 70.5%, respectively, in the second quarter of fiscal 2024. Non-GAAP operating income was $4.9 billion, up 15%, with non-GAAP operating margin at 34.7%.

Additionally, the company said it is raising its quarterly dividend 3%, to 41 cents per share, with that increase implying a yield of 2.63% per share, up from 2.56% previously. In addition, it’s boosting its stock buyback authorization by $15 billion, bringing its total remaining authorization to $17 billion, with no deadline.

Looking to the third quarter, Cisco said it’s modeling revenue of between $13.9 billion and $14.1 billion. The midpoint of that range is just ahead of the Street’s consensus view of $13.9 billion. In addition, Cisco said it’s looking for earnings of 90 to 92 cents per share, ahead of the Street’s estimate of 90 cents.