Cisco posts 37% hike in quarterly earnings

Cisco System's first-quarter profit jumped 37%, edging the world's largest networking supplier past Wall Street's estimate as demand continued rising for sophisticated internet machinery, an Associated Press report said.

The Associated Press report said net income was $2.2 billion for the three months ended October 27. That compares with $1.6 billion in profit in the year-ago period.

Cisco makes routers and switches that direct internet traffic.

The report said Cisco's strong sales in the first quarter helped it slightly beat analysts' forecasts. Cisco rang up $9.55 billion in sales during the period, a 17% jump over the $8.2 billion recorded last year.

Analysts were expecting $9.54 billion in sales.

Concerns about the company's ability to sustain its rapid growth continued to dog Cisco, however. Its stock fell $1.35, or more than 4%, to $31.40 after the results were reported, the report further said.