PowerShares QQQ, an exchange traded fund comprised of top Nasdaq-listed stocks, was down 0.6% in Thursday’s premarket following a disappointing outlook from bellwether Cisco (NasdaqGS: CSCO).
Cisco after Wednesday’s closing bell reported quarterly results and said it expects its current quarter will continue to show weakness. The stock was down more than 3% in premarket trading.
“Cisco reported decent results in the fiscal third quarter with revenue that met expectations and earnings per share that beat forecasts,” BMO Capital Markets analysts wrote in a note on the earnings. “Guidance was considerably worse than expected and, a management works to refocus and realign the business, we expect there to be further lumpiness.”
Cisco on Wednesday announced job cuts in the wake of a recent restructuring as the company tries to reduce costs and boost profit margins.
“As expected, management provided considerable detail on its efforts to restructure and refocus the business,” BMO said. “However, we believe that, for the stock to work, evidence of a return to growth and stabilizing margins are needed.”
The Nasdaq-100 ETF is up 8% year to date.
PowerShares QQQ (NasdaqGM: QQQ)
