CSCO Earnings: Cisco Stock Surges as Earnings & Guidance Crush Expectations—Wall Street Left Playing Catch-Up
Cisco just schooled the skeptics—again. The networking giant's latest earnings report bulldozed estimates, sending shares soaring in after-hours trading.
The Numbers Don't Lie
Revenue? Up. Guidance? Raised. Short sellers? Rekt. While analysts were busy tweaking their spreadsheets, CSCO delivered the kind of beat that makes CFOs grin and hedge funds scramble.
Why This Matters
In a market obsessed with AI hype trains, Cisco proves old-school infrastructure still prints money. Their guidance bump suggests enterprises are finally opening wallets—even if it took a recession scare to knock some sense into them.
Wall Street's darling of the hour? More like the tortoise quietly lapping hares. Just don't tell the crypto bros—they're still waiting for their 'fundamentals' to matter.
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During the first quarter, Cisco returned $3.6 billion to shareholders. Dividends made up $1.6 billion, or $0.41 per share, while buybacks made up the remaining $2 billion. The firm regularly repurchases its shares each quarter and has $12.2 billion remaining under its buyback plan.
Cisco’s Guidance
Looking forward, management has provided the following guidance:
- Q2 revenue between $15 billion and $15.2 billion, versus estimates of $14.64 billion
- Q2 adjusted earnings of $1.01 to $1.03 per share, compared to expectations of $0.99
- FY26 revenue between $60.2 billion and $61 billion, versus estimates of $59.68 billion
- FY26 adjusted earnings of $4.08 to $4.14 per share, compared to expectations of $4.04
As you can see, guidance was better than expected. This is likely what contributed to the stock’s after-hours MOVE at the time of writing.
Is CSCO a Buy, Sell, or Hold?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on CSCO stock based on 10 Buys, five Holds, and zero Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. Furthermore, the average CSCO price target of $78.55 per share implies 6.2% upside potential. However, it’s worth noting that estimates will likely change following today’s earnings report.
