Piper Jaffray Maintains Neutral Stance on Cisco

Piper Jaffray has published a report on Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) after the network company announced restructuring plans.

In the report, Piper Jaffray wrote that, "After recent media speculation surrounding previously announced restructuring plans, Cisco formally announced details regarding expected opex cuts totaling $1 billion in annual savings. The plan calls for 11,500 fewer employees with roughly 5,000 from the sale of Cisco's Juarez manufacturing facility, 2,100 from early retirement, and 4,400 forced layoffs. We believe these cost cuts were factored into the company's guidance and already reflected in consensus expectations. We believe these initiatives were a needed first step, but we see significant risk with the likelihood of a brain drain with key engineers, top sales personnel and high quality executive departing for better opportunities."

Piper Jaffray rated Cisco Systems a Neutral with a price target of $19.00. Cisco closed at $15.44 Monday evening.