Cisco Responds to Earnings Leak

Cisco Systems, Inc.s better-than-expected earnings and revenue news slipped out a little early on Wednesday, as the network equipment maker said it had to respond ahead of the companys afternoon conference call to an internal memo it claims was “inadvertently” leaked.

In a statement issued early Wednesday morning, Cisco said the internal memorandum had been released “prematurely and inadvertently” to the companys employees on Tuesday, and said it felt compelled to verify what the memo contained: that the company had exceeded estimates on revenues and earnings per share for its fiscal second quarter of 2002.

No further details were forthcoming.

“As previously scheduled, we will release financial results for the quarter after the close of the market today,” said Ciscos chief financial officer Larry Carter in a prepared statement. “So as to minimize any potential confusion, the results we announce this afternoon will exceed the current consensus estimates of earnings per share and revenues for the second quarter of our fiscal year.”

Cisco shares were up slightly in morning trading, and were credited with boosting the stock market early on as well.