From Tech Trader Daily:
News flash: Cisco CEO John Chambers, at the tail end of his presentation at the company’s financial analyst conference this morning in San Jose, said the company has decided to start paying a dividend of 1%-2%, with the actual amount to be determined in the sprint. The company has been under pressure for years to start paying a dividend - and it is finally making the move. Chambers also said he thinks there is a better than 50/50 chance that Congress will change corporate tax policy to allow easier repatriation of cash from overseas. (The company has $30 billion in cash outside the country.)
Here’s my live blog of the presentation:
I’m at Cisco Systems (CSCO) HQ on Tasman Drive in San Jose this morning for the company’s financial analyst conference. I’ll be checking with updates throughout the next few hours; come back frequently for updates. I’d note that the company issued a lengthy, buzz-word encrusted press release this morning that says the company has “expanded its data center product and services portfolio and evolved its data center architecture to accelerate IT innovation, increase business value, and support new business models such as desktop virtualization and public or private ‘clouds.’”
And now, on with the show.
- 8:26 CEO John Chambers appears, and is roaming the front of the room. He says he is the most optimistic he has ever been about the company. He says the company’s market campaign says it best: “Together we can.” The opportunity is connecting people in many different ways.
- 8:29 Chambers notes that the company has been reinvented over the last five years. About catching market transitions. Not about competitors; you catch them, or get left behind. The network is the platform, it says on his slides....MUCH MORE
