Cisco Surpasses Q1 Expectations Driven by Robust AI Demand and Performance; Analysts Increase Price Targets
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: Nov 13 2025
0mins
Should l Buy CSCO?
Source: Benzinga
Cisco's Strong Fiscal Performance: Cisco Systems reported a fiscal first-quarter revenue of $14.88 billion, an 8% year-on-year increase, driven by strong demand for AI infrastructure and networking solutions.
Analyst Ratings and Price Targets: Analysts from Rosenblatt Securities, JPMorgan, and BofA Securities reaffirmed positive ratings on Cisco, with price targets raised to between $90 and $100, reflecting confidence in the company's growth prospects.
AI Orders and Revenue Guidance: Cisco's AI orders from hyperscalers surged to $1.3 billion, with management projecting a target of at least $4.2 billion in AI orders for fiscal 2026, indicating strong momentum in this sector.
Stock Performance: Following the positive earnings report, Cisco's shares rose by 4.81% to $77.52, reflecting investor optimism about the company's future growth, particularly in AI and campus networking.
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Analyst Views on CSCO
Wall Street analysts forecast CSCO stock price to rise
13 Analyst Rating
10 Buy
3 Hold
0 Sell
Strong Buy
Current: 75.000
Low
76.00
Averages
91.30
High
100.00
Current: 75.000
Low
76.00
Averages
91.30
High
100.00
About CSCO
Cisco Systems, Inc. designs and sells a range of technologies that power the Internet. The Company is integrating its product portfolios across networking, security, collaboration, applications and cloud. The Company's segments include the Americas; Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), and Asia Pacific, Japan, and China (APJC). Its Networking product category represents its core networking technologies of switching, routing, wireless, fifth generation (5G), silicon, optics solutions and compute products. Its Security product category consists of its cloud and application security, industrial security, network security, and user and device security offerings. Its Collaboration product category consists of its meetings, collaboration devices, calling, contact center and platform as a service (CPaaS) offering. Its Observability product category consists of its full stack observability offerings.
About the author
Emily J. Thompson
Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.
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- Strong Financial Performance: In Q2, Cisco's revenue rose 10% year-over-year to $15.3 billion, exceeding market expectations, with projected AI infrastructure orders exceeding $5 billion for fiscal 2026, indicating robust market demand.
- Capital Return Strategy: Cisco returned $3 billion to shareholders in Q2 through dividends and buybacks, with an annual dividend expense of approximately $6.63 billion, and projected free cash flow of $13.64 billion in fiscal 2026 to support future dividend increases.
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- Infrastructure Investment: Cisco executives report that over 90% of customer support cases are now AI-driven, significantly enhancing customer satisfaction, indicating the company's crucial role in the infrastructure of the AI era.
- Semiconductor Market Growth: Applied Materials anticipates that investments in AI infrastructure will drive over 20% growth in its semiconductor equipment business in 2026, demonstrating the substantial impact of AI on industry revenues.
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- Mixed Industry Results: Automakers reported mixed earnings, with some industrial stocks outperforming the broader market; however, overall equity demand remains capped, indicating a growing risk-off sentiment among investors.
- AI Panic Trade: The launch of a new freight efficiency platform by an AI firm has spooked markets, leading to sharp declines in traditionally resilient trucking and logistics stocks, as fears grow over the vulnerability of labor-intensive business models to automation.
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