Wall Street Analysts Adjust Ratings on Key Stocks
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: Jan 26 2026
0mins
Should l Buy CSCO?
Source: Benzinga
- Solventum Upgrade: Keybanc analyst Brett Fishbin upgraded Solventum Corp (NYSE:SOLV) from Sector Weight to Overweight with a price target of $97, indicating confidence in its growth potential, closing at $78.91 on Friday.
- National Storage Improvement: Wolfe Research analyst Keegan Carl upgraded National Storage Affiliates Trust (NYSE:NSA) from Underperform to Peer Perform, closing at $32.68 on Friday, reflecting market recognition of its operational performance.
- Meta Platforms Rating Boost: Rothschild & Co analyst James Cordwell upgraded Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META) from Neutral to Buy, raising the price target from $740 to $900, with shares closing at $658.76 on Friday, indicating optimism about its long-term growth.
- Cisco Systems Upgrade: Evercore ISI Group analyst Amit Daryanani upgraded Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CSCO) from In-Line to Outperform, increasing the price target from $80 to $100, with shares closing at $74.59 on Friday, reflecting a positive outlook on its market performance.
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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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- Optimistic Future Outlook: The company anticipates over $5 billion in AI orders for fiscal 2026, although this forecast excludes its newest products, reflecting ongoing expansion and market confidence in Cisco's AI capabilities.
- Innovation Driving Demand: Cisco shipped its one millionth Silicon One chip in Q2 and introduced the G300 chip, which delivers 102.4 Tbps of bandwidth, further driving demand from hyperscale customers and enhancing the company's competitive edge.
- Market Challenges and Opportunities: Despite rising memory chip costs, Cisco's AI infrastructure business is thriving, with expected revenues of around $3 billion from hyperscale and enterprise customers, underscoring the company's critical role in the AI data center buildout.
See More
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- Market Turmoil: On January 27, 2025, Chinese startup DeepSeek's AI model caused a market shock, leading Nvidia's stock to lose nearly $600 billion in market cap in a single day, plummeting from $143 to below $90, highlighting the market's sensitivity to AI technology.
- Stock Decline: Following the DeepSeek incident, Nvidia's stock continued to decline until April 2025, reflecting investor concerns over U.S.-China trade tensions and revealing the intense competition in the AI technology sector.
- Industry Impact: Dassault's stock fell 10% due to uncertainty over its partnership with Schindler, while Siemens dropped 6.4%, indicating the potential risks associated with reliance on digital twin technology for infrastructure companies.
- Supply-Demand Imbalance: Memory prices surged by 600% over the year, and Cisco's warning about DRAM shortages impacting earnings further exacerbated concerns for Nvidia and similar companies, potentially leading to demand destruction and suppressed sales.
See More
Cisco Accelerates Growth in AI Infrastructure Orders
- Surge in AI Infrastructure Orders: Cisco secured $2.1 billion in AI infrastructure orders from hyperscale cloud companies in Q2 of fiscal 2026, marking a 62% increase from $1.3 billion in Q1, indicating strong demand and growth potential in the AI market.
- Silicon Chip Milestone: The company shipped its one millionth Silicon One chip in Q2, which is utilized in both Cisco's hardware and third-party systems, becoming a significant driver for its hyperscaler business.
- Optimistic Future Orders Outlook: Cisco anticipates over $5 billion in AI infrastructure orders for fiscal 2026, excluding its latest products like the G300 chip; if these new offerings resonate with hyperscaler clients, actual orders could exceed expectations.
- Market Reaction and Cost Challenges: Despite the booming AI business, Cisco's stock fell due to concerns over rising gross margins and memory costs, reflecting market caution regarding the company's cost management capabilities, although long-term demand for AI infrastructure is expected to drive substantial growth.
See More
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- Dividend Increase Signal: Cisco raised its quarterly dividend to $0.42, reflecting confidence in its growing role in AI infrastructure, despite a nearly 12% drop in stock price due to gross margin pressures.
- 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.
- Optimistic Market Outlook: Despite gross margin pressures, Cisco's enterprise networking product orders grew over 20%, indicating strong demand in campus networking and industrial IoT, with expectations for a multi-billion dollar refresh opportunity in the coming years.
See More
Wall Street Ends Weaker as Economic Data Impacts Markets
- Dow Milestone: The Dow Jones Industrial Average crossed 50,000 for the first time this week, despite a 1.2% decline, marking a significant milestone that reflects long-term growth potential, although short-term investor sentiment is impacted by economic data.
- Strong Employment Data: Nonfarm payrolls increased by 130,000, significantly exceeding the forecast of 70,000, indicating labor market resilience; however, the CPI rose only 0.2% month-over-month, below the expected 0.3%, potentially raising concerns about sustained inflation.
- Earnings Volatility: Kraft Heinz announced a pause on its separation plan to focus on strengthening its existing business, indicating a commitment to future growth; conversely, Hims & Hers abandoned a new product launch due to regulatory pressures, leading to a sharp stock decline and highlighting market sensitivity to compliance risks.
- Tech Stock Movements: Alphabet, Google's parent company, tapped the debt markets by issuing long-term bonds to fund its AI investments, planning to spend between $175 billion and $185 billion by 2026, showcasing its ambition in technological innovation; meanwhile, Moderna's shares fell after its flu vaccine application was refused, underscoring regulatory challenges in the biotech sector.
See More
Diverse Companies Actively Integrate AI Technologies
- Healthcare Transformation Potential: CVS Health's leadership emphasizes AI's critical role in reshaping healthcare experiences, acknowledging early implementation stages while driving cost savings and growth, showcasing its strategic value in the healthcare sector.
- Enhanced Competitive Advantage: Hilton's CEO highlights that their modern tech stack provides a significant competitive edge, with opportunities in distribution and operational efficiency far outweighing risks, reflecting a positive outlook for the future.
- 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.
See More
