????思科（Cisco）重振旗鼓的努力已經開始慢慢奏效。這家網絡設備巨頭上周三公布的利潤和銷售數據均好于預期，但未來依然前途漫漫。

????首先來看數字：思科公布第二財季實現凈利潤22億美元，好于上年同期的15億美元；營收115億美元，也高于上年同期的104億美元。另外，這家總部位于圣何塞的公司還宣布，比計劃提前一個季度實現了削減開支10億美元的目標。“我們正在執行一個三年計劃，推動盈利增長快于營收增長。目前的進展很順利，”思科首席執行官約翰·錢伯斯在上周三的新聞稿中稱。“大家將繼續看到一個專注而積極的思科，致力于幫助客戶運用智能網絡，改造企業。”

????就在去年，思科還在競爭中慘敗。利潤率顯著下降，臃腫的產品組合缺乏重點。錢伯斯做了一些痛苦但必要的減法：裁員約1萬人，關閉了個人攝像機Flip這樣的非核心業務。他還說，思科將對瞻博網絡（Juniper Networks）、惠普（Hewlett-Packard）等競爭對手發起更猛烈的挑戰，重新聚焦于公司核心的交換路由產品，提高利潤率。迄今為止，錢伯斯看來正在兌現自己的諾言。“強化創新、速度和靈活性，”錢伯斯上周三在投資者電話會議上表示。“降低成本和復雜度”。

????思科的核心路由交換產品在最近財季占到了公司營收的近50%。但有幾個小的業務部門增長迅速，比如數據中心，營收激增了88%，盡管3.33億美元在思科總營收中的占比仍然很低。

????當然，思科還沒有完全走出困境。投資者期待看到思科利潤率的提高，而不只是企穩。雖然對于一家像思科這樣規模的公司來說，錢伯斯已較為迅速地成功扭轉了公司的頹勢，但他對當前季度的預期仍然相對保守：思科預計營收同比增幅僅為5%-7%。而且，雖然瞻博、惠普等競爭對手目前也都有自己的問題，但中國企業華為（Huawei）正在北美企業市場大力拓展。此外，歐洲經濟前景不明，政府支出減少，需要錢伯斯操心的事情太多了。

????Cisco's turnaround efforts are starting to pay off -- slowly. The networking equipment giant released better-than-expected profits and sales on Wednesday, but it still has a long road ahead.

????First, the numbers: Cisco (CSCO) reported second-quarter profit of $2.2 billion, up from last year's $1.5 billion. Revenue came in at $11.5 billion, compared with $10.4 billion a year ago. The San Jose-based company also reported that it had reached its goal of eliminating $1 billion in expenses a quarter ahead of schedule. "We are executing well on our three-year plan to drive earnings faster than revenue," Cisco CEO John Chambers said in a release issued on Wednesday. "You will continue to see a focused and aggressive Cisco that is helping our customers use intelligent networks to transform their businesses."

????Just last year, Cisco was getting its butt kicked by competitors. Margins had significantly deteriorated and its bloated portfolio of products lacked focus. Chambers made some painful but necessary cuts, laying off about 10,000 employees and shutting down distractions like the company's consumer-facing Flip line of camcorders. He also said Cisco would make a more aggressive push against competitors like Juniper Networks (JNPR) and Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), refocus on the company's core switching and routing products and improve margins. So far, it appears Chambers is delivering on his promises. "Innovation, speed, and agility is in," Chambers said in a call with investors on Wednesday. "Cost and complexity is out."

????Cisco's core routing and switching products made up nearly 50% of the company's revenue in this most recent quarter. But several of its smaller business segments are growing fast. Data center revenue, for example, was up 88%. At $333 million, it still makes up a small fraction of Cisco's overall revenue though.

????Of course, Cisco isn't out of the woods quite yet. Investors are looking for Cisco to improve -- not just stabilize -- margins. And while Chambers has managed to start turning things around relatively quickly (for a company of Cisco's size), his outlook for the current quarter was conservative: Cisco expects revenue to grow 5% to 7% from the year-ago period. What's more, while competitors like Juniper and HP are dealing with their own problems at the moment, China-based Huawei is making a big push for the North American enterprise market. And that,along with economic uncertainty in Europe and a decrease in government spending, has got to be keeping Chambers up at night.