Cisco warns of weak Q4, shares reverse course

CEO John Chambers -- who admitted the Silicon Valley bellwether had lost its way -- told analysts on a conference call the current quarter will continue to show weakness as his restructuring effort chugs on.

Shares of the world's biggest networking equipment maker jumped more than 4 percent before they reversed and headed into negative territory in after-hours trade.

"Investors were concerned that the results would be worse than the published consensus on profit and revenue," said Evercore Partners analyst Alkesh Shah. "There's a relief that is helping the stock go up."

"Cisco is in a period of transition. There's a very negative camp that believes that Cisco is in a long decline ... which is why the stock is so inexpensive."

Cisco shares slid 1 percent to $17.72 after rising as much as 4.2 percent to $18.53, from a Nasdaq close of $17.78.

The results came as Chambers is working to turn around the Silicon Valley bellwether, which he conceded last month has lost its way in recent years during an expensive diversification campaign.

"This relieves a bit of investor concern in the near term," said Gleacher & Co analyst Brian Marshall. "While April results look decent relative to expectations, we've longer-term issues the company needs to address."

The company on Wednesday reported profit, excluding items, of 42 cents per share, for the fiscal third quarter ended April 30, beating the average analyst forecast of 37 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

It delivered a non-GAAP gross margin of 63.9 percent, ahead of its own forecast of 62 to 63 percent.

Net income fell to $1.8 billion, or 33 cents per share, from $2.2 billion, or 37 cents per share, a year earlier.