Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Trading Down 12.3% – Here’s What Happened

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)’s share price dropped 12.3% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $74.09 and last traded at $75.00. Approximately 67,981,816 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 186% from the average daily volume of 23,746,035 shares. The stock had previously closed at $85.54.

Key Headlines Impacting Cisco Systems

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

• Positive Sentiment: Cisco beat Q2 revenue and non‑GAAP EPS estimates and raised FY‑2026 and Q3 guidance, showing strong demand across networking and services. PR Newswire: Cisco Reports Second Quarter Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: AI infrastructure momentum: Cisco disclosed about $2.1B of AI infrastructure orders from hyperscalers and launched the Silicon One G300 switching silicon aimed at large AI clusters — supports long‑term growth narrative. PR Newswire: Q2 release (AI orders) InsiderMonkey: Silicon One G300
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts raised price targets and reiterated buy/overweight ratings after the results (examples: UBS to $95, Citigroup to $90, BNP Paribas to $87, Rosenblatt reaffirmed $100 target), indicating continued analyst confidence. Benzinga: UBS price target MarketScreener: Citigroup
• Neutral Sentiment: Cisco raised its quarterly dividend to $0.42 per share (small increase), supporting yield-focused investors but not a market‑moving surprise.
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short‑interest data in feeds is inconsistent (shows zero/NaN); no clear, actionable short‑interest signal from the provided entries.
• Negative Sentiment: Margin concerns: management flagged higher memory costs and noted gross margins came in below some estimates — this margin pressure is the primary reason traders are selling despite revenue beats. CNBC: Memory prices pressure margins
• Negative Sentiment: Market reaction: Cisco’s cautious/mixed near‑term outlook (margins/gross‑profit pressure) sparked a broader tech selloff and volatility pickup, amplifying the stock decline beyond company fundamentals. MarketWatch: Tech sector impact Benzinga: Tech selloff & VIX spike

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on CSCO. Citic Securities upped their price objective on Cisco Systems from $75.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Cisco Systems from $100.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. BNP Paribas Exane raised their price target on Cisco Systems from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 22nd. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Cisco Systems from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.95.

Cisco Systems Trading Down 12.3%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The company has a market capitalization of $296.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.20, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.87. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $77.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $72.99.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The network equipment provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.02. Cisco Systems had a return on equity of 27.29% and a net margin of 18.38%.The company had revenue of $15.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.94 earnings per share. Cisco Systems’s revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 2nd will be paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 2nd. This is a positive change from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is 61.65%.

Insider Activity at Cisco Systems

In other news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 281,860 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.35, for a total value of $22,083,731.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 820,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,316,496.45. This represents a 25.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Deborah L. Stahlkopf sold 164,584 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.85, for a total transaction of $12,812,864.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 196,738 shares in the company, valued at $15,316,053.30. This trade represents a 45.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 1,044,865 shares of company stock worth $81,397,635 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cisco Systems

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CSCO. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Cisco Systems during the 4th quarter worth $4,473,272,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 413.3% during the second quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 22,393,371 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,553,645,000 after purchasing an additional 18,030,441 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 46.2% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 40,836,858 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $2,833,261,000 after purchasing an additional 12,904,969 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 110.2% in the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 18,406,442 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,259,369,000 after buying an additional 9,648,265 shares during the period. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Cisco Systems by 6,778.2% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,810,012 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $472,479,000 after buying an additional 6,711,004 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Cisco Systems Company Profile

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.