Cisco Expects a Decline in Revenue of Up to 10%

The network equipment maker’s chief executive, John T. Chambers, issued the warning as the company reported lower-than-expected revenue for its first fiscal quarter. Mr. Chambers attributed the warning to sluggish demand in emerging markets, as well as the chilling effect of the recent government shutdown on business confidence.

Mr. Chambers said companies in emerging markets like China had become hesitant to buy Cisco products because of political repercussions from reports about the United States spying on foreign governments.

He said Cisco was also seeing a slowdown in decision-making by companies because of economic uncertainty. Mr. Chambers additionally cited a big decline in revenue from television set-top box sales as the company pulled away from less-profitable contracts in that market.

He said Cisco’s orders fell sharply toward the end of the company’s first quarter because of big declines in many of its most important emerging market countries.

“The last two weeks of the last quarter was really tough,” Mr. Chambers told analysts on a conference call.

Shares of Cisco fell 10.3 percent, to $21.52, in after-hours trading after the company released its disappointing financial results targets.

Cisco said revenue grew only 2 percent, to $12.09 billion, in its fiscal first quarter, which ended Oct. 26, from $11.88 billion in the period a year earlier, below analysts’ average estimate of $12.34 billion, according to Thomson Reuters.

The company had forecast growth of 3 percent to 5 percent in the quarter.

Mr. Chambers told analysts that while the partial federal government shutdown directly cut a smaller-than-expected $50 million off Cisco’s revenue, it also reduced demand from nongovernment customers.

He said the shutdown “exasperated the lack of confidence among business leaders we had highlighted over the past few quarters.”

Cisco said its net income dropped to $2 billion, or 37 cents a share, from $2.09 billion, or 39 cents a share. Excluding one-time items, the company earned 53 cents a share, compared with Wall Street expectations of 51 cents a share.

Cisco also said its board had authorized up to $15 billion in additional repurchases of its common stock.