The tech giant still earned no fewer than nice price-target hikes this morning
The shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) are down 4.9% at $46.14 this morning, despite the tech concern reporting better-than-expected fiscal second-quarter earnings of 79 cents per share, in addition to a revenue beat. The major caveat was that the company's revenue has also declined for a fifth-consecutive quarter, as clients spent less on network infrastructure products for offices due to a rise in remote working during the pandemic. Nevertheless, the security still earned no fewer than nice price-target hikes, including one from Cowen and Company to $58.
Cisco stock has had a volatile past 12 months, with major bear gaps in February and August of last year taking shares on a rollercoaster ride. Over the last couple of months, though, the shares have been climbing up the charts to reach a Feb. 8 annual high of $49.34, which was within a chip shot of the stock's pre-pandemic levels. In the last three months, CSCO has added 18.6%.
Analysts were mostly optimistic toward Cisco stock coming into today, with nine of the 16 in coverage sporting a "buy" or better rating, while seven carried a tepid "hold." Plus, the equity's 12-month consensus target price of $50.52 is a healthy 8.7% premium to current levels.
The options pits are firmly in the bullish camp, too, with calls popular. This is per CSCO's 50-day call/put volume ratio of 4.72 at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), which sits higher than 97% of readings from the past year. This means calls are being picked up at a faster-than-usual pace.