Cisco lifts annual forecast on AI boost, names insider Patterson as new CFO
Cisco Systems said on Wednesday that its finance chief Scott Herren will retire from the company in July 26, and raised its annual results forecast, betting on steady demand from cloud customers for its networking equipment, driven by the artificial intelligence boom.
Herren will be replaced by Mark Patterson, currently Cisco's chief strategy officer, who will start as the CFO on July 27, the company said.
Shares of the San Jose, California-based company rose 3.8 per cent in extended trading.
Cisco, with products such as ethernet switches and routers, has benefited from a boom in data center investment, as technology giants have ramped up capital expenditure to meet the computing power needed to run generative AI applications.
The company expects its revenue to be between $56.5 billion and $56.7 billion for fiscal 2025, compared with its prior forecast of $56 billion to $56.5 billion.
Analysts, on average, expect $56.47 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Cisco now expects to post annual adjusted profit between $3.77 and $3.79 per share, compared to its prior projection of $3.68 to $3.74 apiece.
Revenue for the third quarter ended April 26 came in at $14.15 billion, ahead of analysts' estimate of $14.08 billion.
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