Cisco Shares Plunge 12% Amid Margin Pressure from Rising Memory Prices
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: Feb 12 2026
0mins
Should l Buy CSCO?
Source: Newsfilter
- Stock Plunge: Cisco shares fell 12% on Thursday, marking the largest single-day drop in four years, primarily due to rising memory prices exerting pressure on the company's margins, reflecting market concerns about its future profitability.
- Memory Shortage Impact: The global shortage of memory, driven by strong demand for AI chips, has skyrocketed component costs, affecting Cisco and other tech companies, including Apple and Dell, which are also feeling the pinch from increased expenses.
- Financial Response: CEO Chuck Robbins stated during the earnings call that Cisco will raise prices, revise contracts, and negotiate terms to adapt to evolving component prices, aiming to control what can be managed amid rising costs.
- Declining Gross Margin: Although Cisco reported better-than-expected quarterly results, its product gross margin fell to 66.4%, down 130 basis points from the previous year, highlighting the challenges the company faces in managing rising costs.
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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: 77.930
Low
76.00
Averages
91.30
High
100.00
Current: 77.930
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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