Cisco (CSCO) posts strong earnings, shares fall 9% after hours

They sure did look good. Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) said its latest quarterly net income was $2.2 billion, or 35 cents a share, an increase of 37% from a year ago. Excluding certain charges, the company reported a profit of 40 cents a share; analysts were expecting Cisco to report 36 cents per share on that basis. Quarterly sales reached $9.6 billion, up 17% from $8.18 billion a year ago. Wall Street had expected revenue of $9.5 billion, according to a report by CNN/Money.

According to Reuters the company still expects its fiscal second-quarter revenue to increase by about 16% from the same quarter a year ago, said Chief Executive John Chambers. In a conference call, he also reiterated the company's full-year 2008 revenue growth forecast range of 13% to 16% and kept the company's long-term revenue growth forecast of 12% to 17% a year.

Perhaps the forecast was off a tad, but no more. Expectations for the current quarter are for revenue to be $5.91 billion. The company's forecast indicated a number closer to $5.79 billion.

In a normal world, the market would have given the huge router company a pass. It has been good to Wall Street and might have expected something in return. But, the ugliness of the day's market spilled over. After dropping almost 4% during the regular session, Cisco fell over 9% after hours to $28.63.

That will be of no help to the market tomorrow.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.