Cisco to Report Q3 Earnings, Price Target Raised to $110
Ciscois scheduled to report results of its fiscal third quarter after the market closes on May 13 with a conference call scheduled for 4:30 pm ET. What to watch for:GUIDANCE:Along with its last report, Cisco guided for Q3 adjusted earnings per share of $1.02-$1.04 on revenue of $15.4B-$15.6B. At the time, analysts were expecting the company to report Q3 EPS of $1.03 on revenue of $15.21B, but those figures have since risen to $1.04 and $15.56B, respectively.BWG DOWNGRADE:Last month, BWG Global downgraded its view of Cisco to Mixed from Positive, citing checks.EVERCORE:Last week, Evercore ISI raised the firm's price target on Cisco to $110 from $100 and maintained an Outperform rating on the shares, calling the company's Silicon One, an "underappreciated lever for upside."JPMORGAN:In mid-April, JPMorgan raised the firm's price target on Cisco to $96 from $95 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares. The firm adjusted ratings and targets in the hardware and networking group as part of a Q1 preview. JPMorgan expects AI infrastructure investments across server, switches, copper interconnects and optical to drive upside to AI-levered suppliers in Q1.TRUIST INITIATION:In late March, Truist initiated coverage of Cisco with a Buy rating and $94 price target. Networking and Hardware represents the group most directly linked to elevated AI and cloud investment at a time when U.S. hyperscaler capex alone is forecasted to total about $700B in 2026, the analyst tells investors while rolling out coverage of the group. The firm, which favors a more selective approach to the stocks considering relatively higher valuations, names Arista Networks, Cisco, HPEand Motorola Solutionsamong its favorites in the group.ASTRIX:Last week, Peter Bailey, the SVP and GM of Cisco's Security business, announced Cisco's intent to acquire Astrix Security, a company engaged in Non-Human Identity Security. "The addition of Astrix Security brings deep capability to discover and secure every AI agent and non-human identity, including excessive privileges and real-time threats, enabling organizations to adopt AI securely and at scale," Bailey said in a statement, adding that "We plan to integrate Astrix Security's capabilities into Cisco Identity Intelligence, strengthening visibility and context across identities within the Cisco Security platform."