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Shares in Cisco Systems (CSCO) jumped in premarket trading Thursday after the technology and networking company released earnings that topped Wall Street’s estimates and announced that it’s cutting 7% of its global workforce.

The tech giant, which has seen its shares slump by around 10% since the start of the year through Wednesday's close, also said it plans to invest in key growth opportunities as it looks to diversify its revenue. In recent quarters, net sales in the company’s core networking business have remained under pressure as enterprise customers continue to move their computing operations to the cloud.

Cisco shares were up 6% at $48.17 about two hours before the opening bell.

Below, we take a close look at Cisco’s chart and use technical analysis to identify key post-earnings price levels.

Cisco shares carved out a head and shoulders formation between April 2023 and January this year, a chart pattern that signals a potential market top. Moreover, the 50-day moving average (MA) crossed below the 200-day MA in December to form a bearish death cross, another chart alert that warns of lower prices.

Although the stock broke below the pattern’s neckline earlier this month, trading volumes have remained lackluster, suggesting a lack of conviction behind the move lower. Indeed, Thursday’s projected open above the neckline after the company’s better-than-expected earnings has the potential to shift market sentiment back in favor of the bulls.

Following Cisco’s post-earnings jump, investors should monitor four key price levels where the shares could encounter overhead selling pressure amid a reversal attempt.

Initially, the price could run into resistance around $48.50 just below the downward sloping 200-day MA, a location on the chart where sellers may look for exit points near a multi-month downtrend line extending back to the September 2023 swing high, which also marks the “head” of the head and shoulders pattern.

A move higher from here could see the shares climb to $50, where they would likely encounter selling pressure near an important horizontal line joining a range of similar trading levels between November 2022 and May this year.

Further buying may continue a move up to $52.50, a region where investors could be happy to sell shares near the chart formation’s two closely aligned shoulders that formed in April last year and January 2024.

Finally, a major upside reversal could test the top of the head and shoulders pattern near $58. It’s also worth pointing out that a close above this key level would invalidate the formation. Interestingly, a bars patterns, which extracts the stock’s move higher from October to November 2022 and applies it to this month’s recent lows, projects a price target around this same area.

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President Bola Tinubu and President Teodoro Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea have signed an agreement on a gas pipeline for Gulf of Guinea.

In a statement on Thursday by Ajuri Ngelale, the president’s spokesman, the agreement on the Gulf of Guinea gas pipeline project was signed on Wednesday. Ngelale said the agreement further affirms the two nations’ partnership for mutual development.

According to Ngelale, the agreement covered legislative and regulatory measures for the gas pipeline, establishment and operation, as well as transit of natural gas, ownership of the gas pipeline, and general principles. In his remarks, Tinubu said the signing of the agreement will open up new opportunities for gas exploration and employment. The president said the two leaders had discussed issues related to the creation of employment, food security, multilateral relations and conflict resolution mechanisms on the continent during a private meeting that preceded the signing of the agreement.

“Concerning Africa, conflicts and conflict resolution were discussed. We discussed various areas of conflicts and what we can do to promote peace,” Tinubu said. We talked about promotion of peace and stability in our countries, and growth and prosperity on our continent. “In the same way that Europe and America have kept themselves and found a solution for their conflicts, we have to look at both inadequate capital, industrialisation efforts, research and development programmes, and enlighten our people, navigate our way through problems.

Instead of the crisis and conflicts that we see in the Republic of Congo and others, we have to look inwards to solve problems ourselves.” President Tinubu said the discussion with the president of Equatorial Guinea also covered challenges of security, African continental free trade area (ACFTA) and food security.

“We are all going for it. Within Africa and the African Union, we have resolved that we will work together to make sure that the solution to many of our problems in Africa comes from within,” he added.

Mbasogo said bilateral relations with Nigeria over many years have been rewarding but there is a need to deepen cooperation across salient areas. The president of Equatorial Guinea also said Africa’s vision of having a permanent seat in the security council of the United Nations is vital for the development of the continent, affirming that Equatorial Guinea will collaborate with Nigeria to achieve this objective. He said the signing of the agreement was a strategic move for Africa’s development.

Yusuf Tuggar, Nigeria’s minister of foreign affairs and Simeon Oyono Esono, Equatorial Guinea’s minister of foreign affairs, also signed the agreement. Lateef Fagbemi, minister of justice and attorney-general of the federation; Muhammad Badaru Abubakar, minister of defence; Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, minister of interior; Ekperikpe Ekpo, minister of state, petroleum (gas), and Jamila Ibrahim- Biu, minister of youth development, were present at the signing of the agreement.

On Tuesday, the presidency announced that Tinubu will be travelling to Malabo, the capital of Equatorial Guinea, for a three-day official visit at the behest of Mbasogo. Tinubu was received by Manuela Botey, the country’s prime minister when he arrived Malabo on Wednesday. The presidency said Tinubu will hold a private meeting with Mbasogo which will be followed by signing of bilateral agreements focusing on oil and gas, security and others.

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Cisco Systems (CSCO) is cutting about 7% of its workforce as it pivots to higher-growth areas like cybersecurity and artificial intelligence (AI), the company announced in an SEC filing alongside its fiscal fourth-quarter results.

The move comes after the networking-equipment provider revealed a 5% cut in February that affected roughly 4,250 employees. 

In its fiscal fourth quarter, Cisco posted revenue of $13.6 billion, down 10% year-over-year, and earnings per share (EPS) of $0.54, down 44%. The dips weren't as bad as analysts had projected, though, per Visible Alpha. 

The company projects fiscal 2025 revenue of $55 billion to $56.2 billion and EPS of $1.93 to $2.05. Analysts were looking for $55.6 billion and $2.30 per share, respectively. 

Quarterly subscription revenue was $27.4 billion, including revenue from cybersecurity firm Splunk, which Cisco acquired for $28 billion in March. That amounted to more than half of the company's total sales.

Shares of Cisco rose more than 5% in after-hours trading Wednesday after inching higher during the regular session.

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Serve Robotics (SERV) stock rose Wednesday as the Nvidia-backed last mile delivery company announced a partnership with Shake Shack (SHAK) to deliver the fast-casual chain's food through Uber Eats.

The company behind the delivery robots that roam the streets of San Francisco and Los Angeles said Wednesday that Uber Eats users in L.A. who order from Shake Shack could soon see a Serve robot delivering their meal.

The company has an existing deal with Uber Eats to deploy up to 2,000 delivery robots set to be used on the Uber Eats platform in several markets across the U.S. The Shake Shack deal highlights the company's "world-class strategic partnerships," Chief Operating Officer Touraj Parang said.

Shares of the former Uber subsidiary received a substantial boost last month when a regulatory filing revealed that artificial intelligence giant Nvidia (NVDA) had taken a roughly 10% stake in the company.

Serve also reported its second-quarter earnings on Tuesday. It said the company is on track to deploy 250 more robots throughout Los Angeles by the end of the first quarter of 2025, positioning it to fulfill its 2,000-robot commitment to Uber Eats in the coming years.

Serve shares have trended lower since the Nvidia-fueled boom that peaked around $20 in late July, but the Shake Shack deal sent the stock up 9.6% to $11.37 Wednesday.

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Intel (INTC) sold its stake in Arm (ARM) as the chipmaker works to bring down costs, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing Tuesday.

Intel's latest 13F, which is required for most firms with assets under management of $100 million or more, showed Intel sold 1.18 million shares of Arm during the second quarter. The stake was worth over $147 million at the end of the first quarter, and while the filing doesn't show the date shares were sold, Arm shares gained more than 30% during the second quarter.

The filing also showed Intel sold some of its holdings of Astera Labs (ALAB) and Joby Aviation (JOBY), while keeping the MariaDB (MRDB) and Senti Bioscience (SNTI) shares it held in the previous quarter.

The sales come at a tough time for Intel, which recently reported a wider-than-expected loss for the second quarter and announced a $10 billion cost-savings plan that includes laying off 15% of its workforce.

Despite the company's efforts, analysts said the cost-cutting plan may not be enough for a sustainable recovery as "formidable hurdles remain."

Intel shares finished 2.7% lower at $19.92 Wednesday and have lost over 60% of their value since the start of the year.

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Nigeria’s headline inflation rate decreased to 33.40% in July 2024, down from 34.19% in June 2024. This marks the first decline in the headline inflation rate since December 2022, when it last dropped to 21.34%, Nairametrics is reporting.

The latest inflation rate figures are based on the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) CPI report for July 2024.

According to the report, the headline inflation rate decreased by 0.79 percentage points in July 2024 compared to June 2024. On a year-on-year basis, the rate was 9.32 percentage points higher than in July 2023, when it stood at 24.08%. This indicates an increase in the headline inflation rate on a year-on-year basis for July 2024 compared to the same month in the previous year.

Additionally, on a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in July 2024 was 2.28%, slightly lower than the 2.31% recorded in June 2024.

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