Cisco's Beat Fails to Lift Dow

Despite an impressive earnings report from Cisco Systems (NAS: CSCO) after the bell yesterday, the market is nevertheless lower today on fears emanating from Europe and continued uncertainty surrounding the fiscal cliff. At roughly halfway through the trading session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEX: ^DJI) is down by 62 points, or 0.48%.

People took to the streets across Europe today in a coordinated strike against austerity measures. The move comes a day after the Continent's financial ministers met in Brussels to decide whether or not to release the next tranche of financial support to Greece. Union members in Spain, Portugal, and Greece called for their respective governments to pursue programs geared toward economic growth as opposed to spending cuts on things like health care and education.

With respect to corporate news, after the market closed yesterday, Cisco Systems surprised the market with better-than-expected results. The company reported adjusted earnings per share of $0.48 on revenue of $11.9 billion. Analysts had predicted earnings to come in at $0.46 a share on revenue of $11.78 billion.

According to Cisco's CEO John Chambers: "We delivered record results this quarter -- with revenue growth of 6 percent and strong earnings-per-share growth -- demonstrating our vision and strategy are working. Our innovation engine, operational discipline and on-going evolution are enabling us to differentiate in the market."

Shares in the technology giant are up by 6.7% in intraday trading.

Also in the tech space, shares of Facebook (NAS: FB) are surprisingly higher this morning by nearly 8%. It's surprising because a lockup on the social media company's shares expires tomorrow, increasing its outstanding float considerably. Two previous lockup expirations both sent shares tumbling. Today's performance is leading some to make comparisons to Yelp (NYS: YELP) , which saw a similar uptick in its share price following a lockup expiration as well.

Finally, shares of Home Depot (NYS: HD) are leading the Dow lower today. The home improvement retailer was the best-performing stock on the index yesterday after reporting earnings for the recently concluded quarter. It benefited from an uptick in the housing market as well as stockpiling of supplies by consumers in the lead-up to Hurricane Sandy.

Cisco, once a high-flying tech darling, is now on the radar of value-oriented dividend lovers. Get the lowdown on the routing juggernaut in our premium report. Our report also has you covered with a full year of free analyst updates to keep you informed as their story changes, so click here now to read more.

The article Cisco's Beat Fails to Lift Dow originally appeared on Fool.com.

John Maxfield has no positions in the stocks mentioned above. The Motley Fool owns shares of Facebook and has the following options: long JAN 2014 $20.00 calls on Facebook. Motley Fool newsletter services recommend Facebook and The Home Depot. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Copyright © 1995 - 2012 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.