Cisco stock upgraded ahead of earnings

Cisco Systems Inc. was upgraded to neutral from sell at Macquarie Research on Monday ahead of the company's quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. While the bank said it still has long-term fundamental concerns about the industry and the impact to Cisco's routing and datacenter switching business, it said it's "hard to see significant further downside from a financial perspective," given the recent sell-off in Cisco's shares, and believes the company has an adequate free cash flow cushion to maintain and grow its dividend. Macquarie maintained a $26 12-month price target on the stock. Shares of Cisco fell 2.3% to $22.37 in premarket trade. They have declined 20% over the last three months, versus a 10% decline for the Dow Jones Industrial Average. [Correction: an earlier version of this report had the incorrect date of Cisco's earnings, which will be released after the market close on Wednesday]

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.