Why Cisco Stock Traded Higher During Wednesday's After-Hours Session

Shares of Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) rallied during Wednesday’s after hours session following the release of the company’s Q2 earnings beat with in-line guidance for Q3.

Cisco saw strong business momentum which drove a 6% year-over-year growth in revenue to $12.7 billion. In particular, management highlighted, “continued robust demand across the business with a third consecutive quarter of more than 30% total product order growth.” Additionally, the ongoing business model transformation showcases solid progress with total annualized recurring revenue (ARR) growing 11% year-over-year to $21.9 billion.

Cisco Chair and CEO Chuck Robbins underscored, “our robust order strength, record backlog and double-digit growth in annual recurring revenue position us well to deliver growth.” The board of directors approved a $15 billion increase to stock repurchases, increasing the remaining authorized amount for stock repurchases to now be $18 billion. Management also declared a 3% quarterly dividend increase.

Cisco Systems Inc. is the world’s largest hardware and software supplier within the networking sector. The infrastructure platforms group includes hardware and software products for switching, routing, data center, and wireless applications.

At the time of publication, shares of Cisco were trading 5.71% higher during after hours at $57.35. The stock has a 52-week low of $44.15 and a 52-week high of $64.28.