Cisco Focus on Networks Pays Off in Q2 Earnings

Cisco beat the street with its second-quarter earnings. The company's net income rose 44 percent in the quarter ended Jan. 28 as Cisco CEO John Chambers continued leading the company out of its 2011 funk.

After a round of layoffs and a renewed focus on its core business, Cisco tallied $2.2 billion in net income during the quarter. That compares with $1.5 billion in the year-ago period. At the end of the quarter, Cisco posted 47 cents per share earnings. Analysts predicted 43 cents per share.

"We are executing well on our three-year plan to drive earnings faster than revenue. Our operational focus continues to yield positive results -- we hit our billion dollar expense reduction a quarter early -- and our ongoing innovation enables our customers to solve their critical business needs," Chambers said. "You will continue to see a focused and aggressive Cisco that is helping our customers use intelligent networks to transform their businesses."

Cisco's Switch Business

Zeus Kerravala, principal analyst at ZK Research, pointed out investor concern for Cisco's switching business in past quarters. It's a valid concern, considering switches are the largest part of Cisco's revenue.

"Much of the industry has been calling for a decline in margins. For a while the margins did decline. Part of that was due to the competitive landscape and some of the products from low-cost providers. I think Cisco was caught off-guard by that because of their lack of focus on networking," Kerravala said.

"Cisco was focused on flip cameras and consumer devices. Chambers made the promise that networking was going to be a focus for them last year and it has been. Now margins for switches are returning to what they were three years ago. For investors, that's a great sign."

Kerravala noted rumblings in the blogosphere about quality. As he sees it, there's...