By Marina Lopes
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Network equipment maker Cisco Systems Inc posted a lower-than-expected 5.5 percent decline in quarterly revenue, and the company's shares rose in afterhours trading.
Cisco had a net profit of $2.2 billion in the fiscal third quarter, down from $2.5 billion in the year-ago quarter.
Non-GAAP earnings of 51 cents per share exceeded the consensus forecast of 48 cents.
Cisco increased its cash dividend in the third quarter to $0.19 per common share.
"They increased dividends for a third year in a row. It shows Cisco has become a dividend-driven stock and not a growth stock, due to the fact that quarter over quarter they have not seen a lot of change in growth," said Zeus Kerravalla at ZK research.
"Growth has to come with macro changes and not with share gains, and that is something that has been difficult for them to deal with," he said.
Cisco reported revenue of $11.5 billion, down from $12.2 billion a year earlier. Wall Street on average had expected $11.36 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
(Reporting by Marina Lopes; Editing by Richard Chang)
