Cisco Exceeds Earnings Forecast

Compiled from wire reports Cisco Systems Inc. beat Wall Street profit forecasts for the 13th straight quarter Monday, an anxiously awaited report that showed a 66 percent jump in sales by the No. 1 producer of equipment used to direct traffic on the Internet.

But investors, rattled by a volatile six-month downturn in the stock market, reacted negatively to the report, worried that even a reliable performer like Cisco will soon be hit by a sluggish turn in the economy.

Cisco, widely seen as a barometer for the technology industry and the Internet economy, reported an operating profit of $1.36 billion, or 18 cents per share, for the three months ended Oct. 28, which is the company’s first fiscal quarter.

Analysts surveyed by First Call/ Thomson Financial had been projecting an operating profit of 17 cents per share.

Cisco’s stock fell following the report, sliding $3 a share to $52.13 in extended trading after gaining 38 cents in regular trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

In other reports Monday:

The May Department Stores Co.’s third-quarter earnings dropped 38 percent. The company earned $85 million, or 27 cents a share, in the quarter ended Oct. 28, compared with $138 million, or 38 cents per share, a year ago.

Waste Management Inc., the largest trash hauler in the United States, said its third quarter results met analysts’ estimates.

Excluding unusual costs and charges related to asset sales, the Houston-based company said it had earnings of 33 cents a share, or $207.6 million, in line with the consensus estimate of analysts polled by First Call/Thomson Financial.

Comcast Corp., the third-largest U.S. cable operator, said net profits climbed sharply in the third quarter as operating cash flow rose amid gains in the company’s digital cable and high-speed Internet businesses. The company posted a profit of $1.25 billion, or $1.29 a diluted share, compared with $327.8 million, or 41 cents a share a year earlier.