Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Trading 2.6% Higher on Strong Earnings

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) shot up 2.6% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The company traded as high as $102.01 and last traded at $101.87. 37,445,079 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 67% from the average session volume of 22,397,385 shares. The stock had previously closed at $99.29.

The network equipment provider reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $15.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.56 billion. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 19.22% and a return on equity of 27.88%. Cisco Systems has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 1.160-1.180 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 4.270-4.290 EPS.

Key Headlines Impacting Cisco Systems

Here are the key news stories impacting Cisco Systems this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street commentary ahead of earnings has been upbeat, with analysts pointing to strong AI networking demand, robust product orders, and hyperscaler momentum as potential drivers of double-digit revenue growth. The Zacks Analyst Blog Cisco, Arista Networks, Dell and Hewlett
• Positive Sentiment: Cisco joined a multi-company AI data center alliance aimed at setting open standards for optical connectivity, a move that reinforces its role in the fast-growing AI infrastructure buildout. Cisco Joins AI Data Center Alliance As Stock Trades Above Targets
• Positive Sentiment: Investor optimism is also being supported by expectations that Cisco will post another quarter of earnings and revenue growth, with analysts looking for EPS of about $1.03-$1.04 and revenue around $15.56 billion. Cisco Gears Up For Q3 Print; Here Are The Recent Forecast Changes From Wall Street’s Most Accurate Analysts
• Positive Sentiment: Jim Cramer said Cisco’s data center business looks bright, adding to the upbeat pre-earnings narrative around the company’s growth in networking and AI-related infrastructure. Jim Cramer on Cisco: “The Future Is Bright for the Data Center Part of the Business”
• Neutral Sentiment: Several previews note that Cisco is heading into earnings after a strong rally and at or near record highs, so results and guidance may need to be solid to justify the recent valuation expansion. Cisco Q3 Preview: Stock Hits New Highs, Expert Asks ‘Can It Return To Those Parabolic ’90s Like Returns?’
• Neutral Sentiment: Traders are expecting a sizable post-earnings move, which suggests the stock could stay volatile around the report even if the long-term outlook remains constructive. How Much Is Cisco Stock Expected to Move After Earnings This Week?

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on CSCO. CICC Research raised their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $84.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $95.00 to $96.00 in a research note on Monday. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Cisco Systems to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Argus upgraded shares of Cisco Systems to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Evercore raised their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $90.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 19,545 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.00, for a total value of $1,485,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 671,095 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,003,220. The trade was a 2.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 2,179 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.74, for a total transaction of $169,395.46. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 28,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,239,456.18. This represents a 7.03% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 46,431 shares of company stock valued at $3,574,820 in the last ninety days. 0.01% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cisco Systems

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 398,943,293 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $30,730,602,000 after purchasing an additional 4,049,893 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 195,521,161 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $15,060,995,000 after purchasing an additional 1,057,962 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 75,326,258 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,802,382,000 after purchasing an additional 206,352 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 59,836,782 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,609,227,000 after purchasing an additional 6,224,062 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Cisco Systems in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,473,272,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Stock Up 2.6%

The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $83.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $79.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market cap of $402.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.92.

About Cisco Systems

Cisco Systems, Inc is a global technology company that designs, manufactures and sells networking hardware, software and telecommunications equipment. Its core business focuses on enabling enterprise and service-provider networks through products such as routers, switches, network security appliances and wireless systems. Over time Cisco has broadened its portfolio to emphasize software-defined networking, cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure and edge computing solutions that help organizations build and manage modern IT environments.

In addition to hardware, Cisco offers a growing range of software platforms and subscription services for network management, security, analytics and collaboration.