Cisco Systems on Wednesday posted better-than-expected quarterly earnings and gave positive guidance for its next quarter, boosted by growth in Asia.
The networking company reported adjusted earnings of 57 cents per share on $12 billion in revenue for its fiscal 2016 third quarter. Profit per share rose 6 percent year over year, while total sales slid 1 percent from $12.14 billion in the same period.
Analysts expected Cisco Systems to post earnings of 55 cents per share on $11.97 billion in revenue.
"We delivered a strong Q3, executing well despite the challenging environment," said Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins in a statement.
Shares rose about 5 percent in after-hours trading.
For its fiscal fourth quarter, Cisco expects earnings of 59 to 61 cents per share, slightly better than the 58 cents forecast by Wall Street. The company sees revenue coming in a range of flat to up 3 percent from the prior-year period, compared with analysts' expectations of a decrease.
Wall Street has watched how well Cisco, which generates more than a third of its revenue from outside the Americas, can withstand sputtering global growth. Its total revenue in the Americas dipped 3 percent to $7.06 billion. Europe, Middle East and Africa sales fell 4 percent to $3 billion.
Sales in its Asia Pacific, China and Japan segment, though, rose 10 percent to $1.94 billion. Those figures include the SP Video CPE Business, which Cisco divested from last November.
Sales in Cisco's largest unit, switching, slid 3 percent to $3.45 billion. NGN routing sales dropped 5 percent to $1.89 billion.
Collaboration was a bright spot, with sales climbing 10 percent to $1.07 billion. Data center revenue rose 1 percent to $811 million.
Cisco provides another gauge of the technology sector, which has proven hit-or-miss during this earnings season. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite has shed 4.5 percent in the last month, making it the worst performer of the three major U.S. averages.
Cisco shares have dipped nearly 2 percent this year and dropped more than 10 percent in the past 12 months.