Cisco held its earnings call yesterday and it seems that, at least on the short-run, its restructuring efforts are starting to pay off.  The networking giant managed to beat analysts’ average expectation of 38 percent per share with profit of $2.2 billion from its fourth quarter, or 40 cents a share, excluding $772 million spent on John Chambers’ internal overhaul.  However, its net-income fell 36 percent year-over-year.

Cisco also managed to beat forecasts with revenue of $11.2 billion, or 3.3 percent more than in the same period last year. Product orders rose by 11 percent. Chief executive John Chambers said these figures represent “solid progress,” and elaborated saying,

“In terms of Q4 FY 11 overall guidance, we accomplished what we outlined in our Q3 conference call, achieving a little bit more in revenue growth and earnings per share than consensus’ expectations.”

Cisco’s fourth quarter is far from being considered strong, but it was enough to regain some of the lost investor confidence that resulted in the steady decline of the company’s stock throughout the past year or so.  Its shares rose more than 15 percent by $2.39 to just above $16 this morning, for the first time since July.

As for the next quarter, Chambers expects the 1-4 percent growth in revenue, in light of an unstable stock market and “other factors” that are affecting its competitors as well. However, it seems this gain has helped spur some life in the rest of the industry.  Cisco will, however, have to continue its firings in order to maintain earnings.

The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 53 points, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index and the Morgan Stanley Index were up 3 percent and 2.8 percent, respectively. Juniper Networks, that has seen a decline in its stock lately despite of relatively steady growth figures, rose by more than 4 percent.