Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Releases Q3 2026 Earnings Guidance

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) updated its third quarter 2026 earnings guidance on Thursday. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of 1.020-1.040 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 0.950. The company issued revenue guidance of $15.4 billion-$15.6 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $15.2 billion. Cisco Systems also updated its FY 2026 guidance to 4.130-4.170 EPS.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on CSCO shares. Citic Securities lifted their target price on shares of Cisco Systems from $75.00 to $90.00 in a report on Monday, November 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Cisco Systems from $82.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Bank of America increased their target price on Cisco Systems from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Zacks Research upgraded Cisco Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Cisco Systems from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $97.19.

Cisco Systems Stock Performance

Shares of CSCO stock opened at $76.85 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $303.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.96. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $77.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.07. Cisco Systems has a one year low of $52.11 and a one year high of $88.18.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The network equipment provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.02. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 19.22% and a return on equity of 27.88%. The business had revenue of $15.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.94 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Cisco Systems will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Cisco Systems

In related news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 116,734 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.30, for a total value of $9,023,538.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 704,153 shares in the company, valued at $54,431,026.90. This trade represents a 14.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kristina M. Johnson sold 13,481 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.13, for a total value of $1,039,789.53. Following the transaction, the director owned 61,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,753,521.90. This represents a 17.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 507,122 shares of company stock worth $39,545,816. 0.01% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Key Cisco Systems News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Cisco unveiled the Silicon One G300 switching chip designed for large AI cluster buildouts, positioning the company to compete in a multi‑hundred‑billion dollar AI infrastructure market — a clear long‑term growth catalyst. Silicon One G300 announcement
• Positive Sentiment: Q2 results beat both EPS and revenue expectations and management highlighted strong AI/customer orders (notably ~$2.1B of AI infrastructure orders), supporting revenue momentum and the firm’s raised FY guidance. That underpins upside if Cisco converts AI demand into sustained margin expansion. Zacks coverage
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple sell‑side firms raised price targets and reiterated buy/outperform views (examples: CICC raised its target to $96; UBS, Citi, BNP/Exane and others increased targets), which can support further upside via analyst-driven flows and ETF reweighting. CICC price target update
• Neutral Sentiment: Free cash flow fell year‑over‑year but remains positive with healthy margins; analysts note strong FCF long term despite higher capex for AI initiatives — this reduces downside risk but flags near‑term investment drag. TalkMarkets FCF piece
• Neutral Sentiment: MarketBeat and other bullish pieces argue for large long‑term upside (price‑target extrapolations to $150–$182), but these are speculative scenarios that rely on sustained AI share gains and margin recovery. MarketBeat long-term thesis
• Negative Sentiment: Investors punished Cisco after management disclosed gross‑margin pressure driven by a global memory shortage and higher component costs; that margin miss triggered a sharp selloff and created near‑term volatility risk for CSCO. CNBC margin story
• Negative Sentiment: Despite upbeat revenue/guidance, some analysts and market commentary viewed Cisco’s margin outlook and guidance as mixed, prompting sector weakness and headline risk that could keep short‑term selling pressure elevated. MarketWatch on market impact
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short‑interest data in the feed is inconsistent/zero and appears not to be a meaningful new factor for intraday moves. (Days‑to‑cover figures show no material change.)

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cisco Systems

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp grew its position in Cisco Systems by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 195,521,161 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $15,060,995,000 after purchasing an additional 1,057,962 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 75,326,258 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,802,382,000 after acquiring an additional 206,352 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 48,498,612 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,318,275,000 after acquiring an additional 1,631,703 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 21,102,912 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,625,558,000 after acquiring an additional 2,867,520 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec raised its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 11.9% during the third quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 8,518,018 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $582,803,000 after acquiring an additional 903,030 shares in the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.