Cisco (CSCO) Stock Soars 7%: AI Order Boom & Rosy Forecast Ignite Rally

Networking giant Cisco jolts Wall Street with a 7% surge—AI-driven orders and upgraded guidance fuel the fire.

The AI Pipeline Floodgates Open

CSCO's infrastructure division reports 'unprecedented demand' for AI-optimized hardware. No specifics given—because why quantify a gold rush?

Guidance Game Strong

Management hikes forecasts despite macro headwinds. Street applauds while quietly updating recession models.

Cisco's rally defies the tech sector's November blues. Maybe old dogs *can* learn new tricks—or just temporarily distract investors from that pesky PE ratio.

TLDR

• Cisco Systems (CSCO) shares jumped 7.22% in premarket trading after raising annual profit and revenue forecasts
• The company secured over $2 billion in AI-related orders for fiscal 2025, mostly from hyperscalers
• AI infrastructure orders reached $1.3 billion in the quarter ended October 25
• Cisco raised fiscal 2026 revenue guidance to $60.2-$61 billion from previous $59-$60 billion range
• The company expects $3 billion in AI infrastructure revenue for fiscal 2026

Cisco Systems shares surged 7.22% in premarket trading Thursday morning. The networking equipment Maker raised its annual profit and revenue projections based on strong cloud infrastructure demand.

Cisco Systems, Inc., CSCO

The company has captured $2 billion in AI-related orders for fiscal 2025. Nearly all of these orders came from hyperscaler customers.

CEO Chuck Robbins announced the figures Wednesday. He also revealed expectations for $3 billion in AI infrastructure revenue during fiscal 2026.

$CSCO (Cisco Systems) #earnings are out: pic.twitter.com/FkGuQBPA5e

— The Earnings Correspondent (@earnings_guy) November 12, 2025

The quarter ending October 25 brought in $1.3 billion in AI infrastructure orders from hyperscalers alone. These cloud computing giants continue ramping up their data center investments.

Cisco supplies networking equipment to cloud providers, enterprise customers, and telecom companies. The company has benefited as businesses speed up cloud migrations and upgrade their campus networks.

Hyperscaler Demand Accelerates

J.P. Morgan analysts highlighted the momentum in enterprise customer orders. They see this supporting a robust campus network refresh cycle.

However, analysts noted investor attention remains fixed on AI order growth. The pace of AI-related orders has exceeded earlier projections.

Major tech companies are fueling this demand. Alphabet, Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon have all announced plans to increase capital spending on data centers and advanced chips.

Robbins pointed to a growing sales pipeline. The company sees more than $2 billion in potential orders for high-performance networking products.

These opportunities span sovereign customers, neocloud providers, and enterprise clients. The pipeline represents future revenue potential beyond current orders.

Revenue Guidance Climbs

Cisco raised its fiscal 2026 revenue outlook to a range of $60.2 billion to $61 billion. The previous guidance stood at $59 billion to $60 billion.

The company’s stock has gained nearly 25% year to date. This performance reflects investor confidence in Cisco’s position in the AI infrastructure buildout.

The stock trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 17.73. Arista Networks trades at a forward P/E of 40.90, while Dell Technologies sits at 12.83.

The company continues to benefit from the AI infrastructure spending cycle. Businesses need upgraded networking equipment to handle increased data center workloads.

Robbins confirmed the company secured the bulk of its AI orders from hyperscalers in fiscal 2025. These massive cloud providers require extensive networking infrastructure for their data centers.

The quarter ending October 25 marked a strong period for AI infrastructure orders. The $1.3 billion in hyperscaler orders demonstrates continued demand momentum.

Cisco expects this trend to continue into fiscal 2026. The projected $3 billion in AI infrastructure revenue represents substantial growth in this segment.