Cisco (CSCO) Stock Holds Steady After Beat and Raise as AI Forecast Jumps to $9B

TLDR

• Cisco (CSCO) stock was flat after hours following a first-quarter beat.
• Revenue rose 24% to $18.52 billion, and adjusted earnings hit $1.40 a share.
• Fiscal 2027 revenue guidance now stands at $74.8 billion to $75.8 billion.
• AI hyperscaler revenue is now forecast at $9 billion, up from $7.5 billion.
• Adjusted gross margin fell to 65.6% from 68.1% a year ago.

Cisco (CSCO) stock barely budged in after-hours trading on Thursday. The company had just beaten first-quarter estimates and raised its full-year forecast.

Cisco Systems, Inc., CSCO

The stock closed the regular session up 1.24%. It has climbed about 32% so far this year.

The AI hyperscaler forecast is the headline number. Cisco now expects $9 billion from that group in fiscal 2027, up from $7.5 billion.

CISCO $CSCO Q1’27 EARNINGS HIGHLIGHTS

Revenue: $18.5B (Est. $18.13B) ; +24% YoY Non-GAAP EPS: $1.40 (Est. $1.33) ; +40% YoY Non-GAAP Gross Margin: 65.6% (Est. 65.5%) Non-GAAP Oper Income: $7.0B (Est. $6.57B) ; +37% YoY

Raises FY27 Guide: Revenue:… pic.twitter.com/IKvu3pICNF

— Wall St Engine (@wallstengine) November 12, 2026

A year earlier, that business brought in $4 billion. The new target is more than double that.

Quarterly revenue rose 24% to $18.52 billion. Analysts had expected about $18.14 billion, according to LSEG.

Adjusted earnings were $1.40 a share for the quarter ended October 24. The Street had penciled in $1.33.

Under GAAP rules, profit was $4.55 billion, or $1.14 a share. A year ago, it was $2.86 billion, or 72 cents.

The New Full-Year Math

Cisco now sees fiscal 2027 revenue of $74.8 billion to $75.8 billion. The old range was $72.2 billion to $73.4 billion.

Adjusted earnings are guided to $5.47 to $5.53 a share. Before, the range was $5.05 to $5.11.

Product revenue climbed 32% in the quarter. Services edged up 1%, and every region posted growth.

CEO Chuck Robbins said Cisco is in the “very early stages of a multi-year networking supercycle.” He added that customers want help to scale, secure and optimize for the agentic AI era.

Cisco is also building software that lets businesses create their own AI agents. Those bots are meant to defend IT systems from cyber threats.

The Margin Squeeze

Adjusted gross margin was 65.6%, matching estimates. A year ago it stood at 68.1%.

A memory chip shortage has pushed up component costs. Suppliers are also putting AI data-center buyers first.

Bob O’Donnell of TECHnalysis Research said a small margin dip is not a major concern given those costs. He called the raised forecast exactly what the market wants from an AI infrastructure name.

Investors had worried about data-center spending after the Democratic midterm win and higher borrowing costs.

For the second quarter, Cisco guided for revenue of $18 billion to $18.2 billion. It sees adjusted earnings of $1.34 to $1.36 a share, against the $1.23 analysts expect.

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