“It only assumes that our share buybacks offset dilution. So, think of that as you're doing your own modeling, think of the share count to be roughly flat to where it ends this year.”

In context

“estion, please. Operator: Jim Suva from Citigroup Global Markets, you may go ahead, sir. Jim Suva: Thanks very much. It's Jim Suva. I had one question. The long-term full-year outlook of sales and EPS is greatly appreciated, and I noticed that's a big difference and shows a lot of conviction. But on the EPS, normally you also have some stock buyback going in. But some companies include stock buyback in their EPS guide, some don't. So, what I'm wondering is, on your EPS guide, does it include some normal stock buyback? I know this year was different when you bought Acacia for about 4.5 billion and COVID, but I wondering, how we should think about that EPS. Does it include stock buyback or what are the components of the EPS growth that match sales growth? Scott Herren: Great question, Jim. It only assumes that our share buybacks offset dilution. So, think of that as you're doing your own modeling, think of the share count to be roughly flat to where it ends this year. Jim Suva: Got you. Thank you so much for the clarification. It's great to hear all the details. Scott Herren: Thanks, Jim. Marilyn Mora: Thanks, Jim. Next question. Operator: Jeff Kvaal from Wolfe Research, you may go ahead. Jeff Kvaal: Thanks very much. I am hoping to get a little bit of clarification into the software growth trajectory. It sounds like it's a great year overall, and the fourth quarter maybe didn't close as well as you'd like, and if we can talk about the trajectory, we should expect for Software growth in 2022, that would be splendid. Chuck Robbins: I'll start with some color, and then, Scott, you can chime in. I think we continue to add more software capabilities across the portfolio. We continue to transition. We've, we've transitioned a lot of our portfolio to subscri”