Cisco earnings coverage is short circuited

TheStreet.com media critic Marek Fuchs writes Wednesday that media coverage of Cisco’s earnings was either too positive or too negative, and both missed the real story.

Fuchs writes, “In that aspect, Reuters treatment of Cisco’s earnings was not as positive as it should have been, failing to recognize the significance of the company’s beating expectations without relying as heavily as usual on its standby business to do so.

“But in another aspect, the business media shed Cisco’s earnings in too-positive a light, siding with the small beat of expectations in the quarter just passed vs. the small notes of caution the company laid down about the future.

“The Wall Street Journal made a clear choice, leading with the headline ‘Cisco Profit Climbs 4.4% on Sales Growth’ and subordinating this to the subheadline: ‘Chief Sees Uncertainty Over Economy Lingering for Next Few Quarters.’

“This is not uncommon, nor totally inappropriate. But in all articles that are more positive than not about a company that obviously reported just-better-than-expected earnings, you, the savvy investor, should decide where that positivity stems from. Is what you’re reading colored, for example, by a particularly good day in the stock market?”

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