Cisco stock falls despite Street-beating guidance as networking and AI orders accelerate

Tech Written by: Angela Harmantas 10:38 Thu 13 Aug 2026 --> Disclaimer No investment advice About this content Editorial Standards & Policies Share article About this content × About Angela Harmantas Angela Harmantas is an Editor at Proactive. She has over 15 years of experience covering the equity markets in North America, with a particular focus on junior resource stocks. Angela has reported from numerous countries around the world, including Canada, the US, Australia, Brazil, Ghana, and South Africa for leading trade publications. Previously, she worked in investor relations and led the foreign direct investment program in Canada for the Swedish government. She earned a Bachelor of... Read more About the publisher Proactive financial news and online broadcast teams provide fast, accessible, informative and actionable business and finance news content to a global investment audience. All our content is produced independently by our experienced and qualified teams of news journalists. Proactive news team spans the world’s key finance and investing hubs with bureaus and studios in London, New York, Toronto, Vancouver, Sydney and Perth. We are experts in medium and small-cap markets, we also keep our community up to date with blue-chip companies, commodities and broader investment stories. This is content that excites and engages motivated private investors. The team delivers news and unique insights across the market including but not confined to: biotech and pharma, mining and natural resources, battery metals, oil and gas, crypto and emerging digital and EV technologies. Use of technology Proactive has always been a forward looking and enthusiastic technology adopter. Our human content creators are equipped with many decades of valuable expertise and experience. The team also has access to and use technologies to assist and enhance workflows. Proactive will on occasion use automation and software tools, including generative AI. Nevertheless, all content published by Proactive is edited and authored by humans, in line with best practice in regard to content production and search engine optimisation. Cisco Systems Inc ( NASDAQ:CSCO XETRA:CIS ) View Price & Profile Cisco stock falls despite Street-beating guidance as networking and AI orders accelerate Published: 10:38 13 Aug 2026 EDT Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CSCO, XETRA:CIS) reported fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of $17.3 billion, up 18% year-over-year and above the $16.82 billion analyst estimate, as networking demand and artificial intelligence orders drove growth. Non-GAAP earnings per share came in at $1.22, up 23% year-over-year and ahead of the $1.17 estimate. Adjusted operating margin was 35.9%, with adjusted operating income of $6.2 billion, topping the $5.85 billion forecast. Networking revenue grew 28% year-over-year, according to Bank of America, underpinning the quarter's strength. Total product order growth held at 35% year-over-year, matching the prior quarter despite a tougher comparison. Analysts at Bank of America noted orders from Cisco's top four hyperscaler customers grew more than 100%, while orders excluding hyperscalers improved to 25% year-over-year from 19% in the third quarter, pointing to broadening demand across cloud and non-cloud customers. For fiscal 2026, AI-related orders reached about $9 billion with $4 billion in revenue, in line with prior guidance. Looking to fiscal 2027, Cisco doubled its core revenue growth guidance to 10% from a preliminary 5% and raised its AI revenue target to $7.5 billion from $6 billion. Cisco guided fiscal 2027 revenue to a range of $72.2 billion to $73.4 billion, above the $68.69 billion estimate, with adjusted earnings per share of $5.05 to $5.11 versus the $4.80 estimate. For the first quarter, the company guided revenue of $18 billion to $18.2 billion, well above the $16.8 billion estimate, with adjusted earnings per share of $1.32 to $1.34. The company guided adjusted gross margin of 65% to 66% and adjusted operating margin of 35.5% to 36.5% for the quarter. Gross margin held at 66% in the fourth quarter, supported by price increases and productivity gains, according to Bank of America. The firm expects gross margin to step down to roughly 64.5% in fiscal 2027, about 150 basis points below Street estimates, reflecting strong hardware growth and a higher cloud mix. Bank of America flagged Cisco's calendar 2027 EV/FCF multiple of about 25 times as above its five-year historical average of 16 times, though it said durable demand in the campus and AI cycle should support further order growth and revenue acceleration. Shares of Cisco fell more than 7% Thursday morning. Continue reading