Cisco Systems shares fell 6.2 percent on Friday, Nov. 13, Kiplinger reported, the day after the networking company reported its strongest revenue and adjusted earnings growth in more than 15 years and raised its forecast for the year.

The quarter

Revenue for the first quarter of fiscal 2027, which ended Oct. 24, was $18.5 billion, up 24 percent from $14.9 billion a year earlier, Cisco said on Thursday after the close. Product revenue rose 32 percent. Services revenue rose 1 percent.

Net income under generally accepted accounting principles was $4.6 billion, or $1.14 a share, up 58 percent. On an adjusted, non-GAAP basis, net income was $5.6 billion, or $1.40 a share, up 40 percent. The GAAP operating margin was 30.2 percent and the non-GAAP margin 37.8 percent.

Chief Financial Officer Mark Patterson said revenue, non-GAAP operating margin and non-GAAP earnings per share all came in above the high end of the company's guidance.

"We are in the very early stages of a multi-year networking supercycle," Chief Executive Chuck Robbins said in the release.

What Cisco expects next

For the second quarter, Cisco guided to revenue of $18.0 billion to $18.2 billion and non-GAAP earnings of $1.34 to $1.36 a share, or $1.07 to $1.09 on a GAAP basis.

It raised its full-year guidance to revenue of $74.8 billion to $75.8 billion and non-GAAP earnings of $5.47 to $5.53 a share. On a GAAP basis, the range is $4.38 to $4.44.

Cisco also raised its expectation for AI infrastructure revenue from hyperscalers to $9 billion in fiscal 2027, "more than double the total for FY26," the company said.

The dividend

Cisco declared a dividend of 42 cents a share. It is payable Jan. 20, 2027, to shareholders of record on Jan. 4, 2027. For a holder, those two dates are the calendar: the list of owners is fixed on Jan. 4, and the cash goes out 16 days later.

Why the stock fell

The share price moved the other way from the results. Cisco had been one of the best-performing stocks in the Dow this year, and "Friday's decline could represent profit-taking," Kiplinger wrote.

Morgan Stanley's Meta Marshall said the firm remains "constructive on the multiyear growth outlook" but sees "less room for upside," and kept an Equal-Weight rating, according to Kiplinger.

Cisco was not alone on Friday. The Philadelphia semiconductor index fell 3.4 percent, Reuters reported, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.91 percent.

What it means in practice

A results release is a record of what a company sold and what it expects to sell. The share price is what buyers will pay the next morning. On Friday the two went in opposite directions.