UPDATE 5-Cisco beats forecasts, recovery under way

* Fiscal Q1 rev $9.0 bln vs Wall St view $8.7 bln

* EPS ex-items $0.36 vs Street forecast $0.31

* Sees Q2 rev up 1-4 pct y/y, beats Wall Street view

* Shares rise 3.7 pct after-hours (Adds comments from CEO interview)

By Ritsuko Ando

NEW YORK, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Cisco Systems Inc (CSCO.O) posted a stronger-than-expected profit for its fiscal first quarter and said business was recovering as customers are buying more network equipment again after cutting back for the past year.

Chief Executive John Chambers' revenue forecast for the current quarter also exceeded Wall Street expectations, helping the shares rise 3.7 percent after-hours on Wednesday. He also said business conditions likely hit bottom in the early part of this year, its fiscal third quarter.

"There will be a good chance we will look back to see that Q3 was in fact the bottom, that Q4 was the tipping point, and the recovery started aggressively in Q1 of fiscal '10," he said.

Cisco is the world's top vendor of routers, switches and other network equipment used by global businesses, including telephone companies, as well as governments.