RBC cuts target on Cisco; shares decline

Mark Sue lowered his target to $27 from $29. He kept his "Outperform" rating on the San Jose, Calif., company.

The new target implies an expected return of 18 percent on Cisco's closing share price of $22.88 Tuesday.

"Initially, the thought was that the tech spending environment would improve by the second half of this year," Sue wrote in a note to investors. "Instead (Chief Executive John) Chambers is pointing to a more realistic scenario of a first-half 2009 recovery."

Still, Sue said the company appears to be executing well despite the challenging environment. Additionally, better demand from emerging markets appear to be offsetting some weakness in the U.S, he said.

Cisco spokeswoman Heather Dickinson said in a phone interview that Sue's target cut was based on a media report that took comments from Chambers out of context.

Dickinson said Cisco still stands by its previous estimate that it expects technology spending to recover by the end of this calendar year or early next year.

"Chambers' comments about when we might see a 'recovery' are not new," Dickinson said.

Sue left his earnings estimates unchanged and predicted the company may stick to its long-term growth guidance of between 12 and 17 percent.

Shares of Cisco lost 73 cents, or 3.2 percent, at $22.15 in morning trading.