Should You Buy Cisco Systems Inc (CSCO) Today? Analysis, Price Targets, and 2026 Outlook.
Conclusion
Buy
Latest Price
78.960
1 Day change
0.36%
52 Week Range
80.810
Analysis Updated At
2026/01/28
BUY now for a long-term position. Cisco is in a clear uptrend (bullish moving-average stack and expanding positive MACD), Wall Street sentiment has turned more constructive with multiple price-target raises and a fresh Evercore upgrade to Outperform ($100 PT), and options positioning is modestly bullish (put/call ratios < 1 with elevated activity). The main near-term drawback is that the stock is technically stretched/overbought and insiders have been heavy sellers, but for a beginner long-term investor who doesn’t want to wait for a perfect dip, CSCO still looks like an attractive entry here ahead of the Feb 11 earnings catalyst and continued AI/networking momentum.
Technical Analysis
Trend is bullish: SMA_5 > SMA_20 > SMA_200 confirms a strong uptrend. MACD histogram is positive (0.476) and expanding, supporting upside momentum. RSI_6 is 78.831, which is stretched/overbought, implying the stock may consolidate or pull back short-term even if the primary trend remains up. Price context: post-market ~78.88 is above R1 (78.146) and just below R2 (79.565), suggesting upside is nearby but also close to resistance; pivot support is ~75.85.
Intellectia Proprietary Trading Signals
- [AI Stock Picker](module://ai_stock_pick): No signal on given stock today.
- [SwingMax](module://swingmax): Entry signal was on 2026-01-15; price is up ~4.56% since then. This supports that the swing move is already in progress—still bullish, but less “fresh” as a new entry today.
Options Data
Bullish
Open Interest Put-Call Ratio
Bullish
Option Volume Put-Call Ratio
Open interest put/call (0.7) and volume put/call (0.8) are both below 1, indicating calls outweigh puts (bullish bias). Options volume is elevated (today vs 30-day avg ~118%), showing active positioning. Implied vol (30d ~26.25) is slightly above historical vol (~25.79) with IV percentile ~63.6, suggesting the market is pricing a moderate-to-higher move (consistent with the upcoming earnings on 2026-02-11 After Hours). Overall options sentiment: moderately bullish with heightened attention.
Technical Summary
Sell
5
Buy
10
Positive Catalysts
1) Earnings catalyst: QJAN 2026 earnings on 2026-02-11 (after hours) with Street EPS est. ~1.02; results/guidance can extend the uptrend. 2) Fundamental narrative tailwinds cited by analysts: campus refresh cycle, AI networking momentum, recovery in enterprise/telco, and potential margin expansion. 3) Analyst momentum: multiple firms raised price targets recently (e.g., BofA to $95, JPMorgan to $90, UBS to $90; Evercore upgraded to Outperform with $100 PT). 4) Options market positioning leans bullish (put/call ratios < 1) with elevated volume, consistent with positive sentiment.
Neutral/Negative Catalysts
1) Insider activity: insiders are selling and selling amount increased sharply (reported +5452.57% over the last month), which can be a sentiment overhang. 2) Technical stretch: RSI is overbought (~78.8) and price is near resistance (R2 ~79.565), increasing the chance of near-term consolidation. 3) News/geo narrative risk: discussion in Europe about moving away from U.S. technology could be a longer-run demand/headwind theme for large U.S. tech vendors broadly (not Cisco-specific in the feed, but directionally relevant). 4) Hedge funds are neutral (no strong supportive flow signal).
Financial Performance
Latest quarter: 2026/Q1. Revenue rose to $14.883B (+7.53% YoY), net income increased to $2.86B (+5.50% YoY), and EPS grew to $0.72 (+5.88% YoY). Gross margin was essentially flat to slightly down (63.93%, -0.08% YoY). Takeaway: solid growth with slightly slower profit/EPS growth than revenue (and flat-to-down margin), but still a healthy, improving top-line trend supporting a long-term thesis.
Growth
Profitability
Efficiency
Analyst Ratings and Price Target Trends
Recent trend is clearly improving: multiple price-target increases through late 2025 into Jan 2026 and a notable upgrade. Highlights: Evercore ISI upgraded to Outperform (PT $100 from $80, 2026-01-26); Morgan Stanley reiterated Overweight with raised PTs ($91 then earlier $82); JPMorgan raised PT to $90 (Overweight); BofA raised PT to $95 (Buy); UBS PT $90 (Buy); Citi PT $85 (Buy). Wall Street pros: sustained AI/networking order momentum, campus refresh, potential multi-year EPS growth and margin expansion, and a possible re-rating. Cons: some concern around select segment softness (e.g., security noted as weaker by KeyBanc) and valuation/multiple selectivity (Morgan Stanley comment), plus insider selling as a sentiment negative. Politicians/congress: no recent congress trading data available.
Wall Street analysts forecast CSCO stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for CSCO is 89.36 USD with a low forecast of 76 USD and a high forecast of 100 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.
14 Analyst Rating
Wall Street analysts forecast CSCO stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for CSCO is 89.36 USD with a low forecast of 76 USD and a high forecast of 100 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.
10 Buy
4 Hold
0 Sell
Moderate Buy
Current: 78.680
Low
76
Averages
89.36
High
100
Current: 78.680
Low
76
Averages
89.36
High
100
Evercore ISI
Amit Daryanani
In Line -> Outperform
upgrade
$80 -> $100
AI Analysis
2026-01-26
New
Reason
Evercore ISI
Amit Daryanani
Price Target
$80 -> $100
AI Analysis
2026-01-26
New
upgrade
In Line -> Outperform
Reason
Evercore ISI analyst Amit Daryanani upgraded Cisco to Outperform from In Line with a price target of $100, up from $80. While investors will debate if Cisco is cyclical or secular, the firm sees "plenty of tailwinds" to ensure Cisco can sustain high single-digit sales and low-teens EPS growth on a multi-year basis, including a campus refresh, AI momentum, the recovery in traditional enterprise and telco markets; and EBIT margin expansion. A resurgence in core Networking coupled with AI acceleration can enable EPS greater than $5.00 by FY27, the analyst tells investors.
Morgan Stanley
Overweight
maintain
$82 -> $91
2025-12-17
Reason
Morgan Stanley
Price Target
$82 -> $91
2025-12-17
maintain
Overweight
Reason
Morgan Stanley raised the firm's price target on Cisco to $91 from $82 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares. The AI trade broadened out from semi names in 2025, helping infrastructure names, particularly within optical, notes the analyst, who believes that trade can continue, particularly in optical, through the first half of 2026. However, investors will "need to get more selective for full year returns given multiples," the analyst added in a year-ahead note on the group.
Unlock Full Analyst Thesis， Get the complete breakdown of rating reason for CSCO
