San Francisco - Cisco's latest quarterly report is providing further evidence that spending on technology gear is picking up despite persisting concerns about a still-shaky economy.
The earnings announced Wednesday exceeded analyst projections for the world's largest maker of computer networking equipment.
Cisco Systems Inc.'s quarterly performances and forecasts are widely regarded as a way to assess the state of the technology industry.
That's because the San Jose, California, company cuts a broad swath while selling its routers, switches, software and services to corporate customers and government agencies around the world.
Cisco earned $3.1 billion, or 59 cents per share, during a three-month span ending January 26.
That represented a 44 percent increase from $2.2 billion, or 40 cents per share, in the previous year.
Revenue edged up 5 percent to $12.1 billion. - Sapa-AP