Networking equipment maker Cisco hit a rough patch last year due to a combination of turbulent global economic conditions and internal fragmentations: the company strayed too far from its core business, with costly initiatives that failed to hit the mark and a poor decision-making system.

Over ten thousands job cuts and several months later, the company is doing better. Cisco will be reporting its earnings in the third quarter a couple days from now, and it will be crucial to meet market expectations.

Analysts’ average forecast stands at 47 cents per share excluding items on sales of $11.6 billion. That fits in rather well with the firm’s own prediction of between $11.4 billion to $11.6 billion, and last year’s $10.9 billion in revenue.  In Q3 2011 Cisco reported 33 cents per share, or 1.8 billion.

Some background analysis from Seeking Alpha:

“Cisco shares have come under pressure in recent months, due to softness in Europe and the macro weakness in the Asia Pacific region, along with intensifying competition. But with the shares now trading at less than 10x forward earnings…forecasts for increased carrier capital expenditures, and a server refresh cycle, the Street is looking for Non-GAAP EPS and Revenues to come in at or above the high end of the range the company provided back in February.”

Cisco is trading at $19.25 right now, the lowest price in the past four months.

Competitor Juniper Networks recently held its own earnings call, and managed to beat the market 9 cents above the ESP Wall Street predicted. Revenue validated a bit of optimism as well, but expectations for the next quarter are tempered due to lowered IT spending from service providers. This segment accounts for a
sizable chunk of Juniper’s sales, and may impact Cisco as well in the coming months.