Cisco Stock Rallies Over 7% After-Hours On Beat-And-Raise Q1: CEO Touts Strong AI Infrastructure Demand

• CFO Mark Patterson stated that the company achieved solid margins and operating cash flow. 
• He also noted that artificial intelligence (AI) continued to build and referred to the ramp-up of a multi-year, multi-billion-dollar campus refresh opportunity.
• The company also experienced strong demand for refreshed networking products.

Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO) shares climbed over 7% in extended trading as investors cheered the networking giant’s quarterly beat and upbeat guidance. Retail sentiment toward Cisco’s stock also improved notably to very buoyant levels.

If the after-hours session’s gains are sustained in Thursday’s session, the stock appears on track to record its best day since early April.

Cisco’s Q1 Earnings Snapshot

San Jose, California-based Cisco reported adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $1 per share on revenue of $14.88 billion, exceeding the consensus estimates of $0.98 and $14.78 billion. The quarterly results also marked an improvement from the $0.91 per share adjusted earnings and $14.78 billion revenue the company reported for the year-ago quarter. Revenue climbed 8% year over year (YoY), with product revenue up a steeper 10%.

The results also exceeded the company's guidance ranges issued in mid-August.

On the earnings call, Chairman and CEO Chuck Robbins attributed the revenue growth to robust demand for our AI infrastructure and campus networking solution, according to a Koyfin transcript. “We had a solid start to fiscal 2026, and Cisco is on track to deliver our strongest year yet,” the executive said. 

He noted that orders from service providers and cloud customers remained very strong, up 45% YoY, driven by high double-digit growth in hyperscalers. AI infrastructure orders taken from hyperscalers totaled $1.3 billion, he added.

CFO Mark Patterson stated that the company achieved solid margins and operating cash flow. He noted that artificial intelligence (AI) continued to build and referred to the ramp-up of a multi-year, multi-billion-dollar campus refresh opportunity. The finance chief also signaled strong demand for refreshed networking products.

Among operational metrics, remaining performance obligations (RPO) were at $15.7 billion at the end of the quarter, compared to $16.1 billion at the end of the fiscal year 2025.

Cisco’s Capital Return

The company said its board declared a quarterly dividend of $0.41, payable on Jan. 21, 2026, to shareholders of record as of Jan. 2, 2026. 

Cisco’s Outlook

For the second quarter, Cisco expects adjusted EPS of $1.01-$1.03 and revenue of $15 billion-$15.2 billion. Analysts, on average, expect the metrics to come in at $0.99 and $14.64 billion.

The company has raised its full-year guidance, now modeling adjusted EPS of $4.08 to $4.14, up from its previous estimate of $4.00 to $4.06. It also raised its revenue guidance to $60.2 billion to $61 billion, up from $59 billion to $60 billion. The new guidance exceeded the consensus estimates of $4.04 and $59.68 billion, respectively.

On the earnings call, Robbins said AI infrastructure revenue from hyperscalers will likely hit about $3 billion in the fiscal year 2026.

What Retail Feels About Cisco’s Stock

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment toward the stock improved to ‘extremely bullish’ as of late Wednesday, from ‘bullish’ a day before. The message volume on the stream also increased to an ‘extremely bullish’ level.

A bullish watcher predicted a short-squeeze rally. However, short interest in the stock has reduced to 1.2% from 1.5% in early June.

Another user is positioned for an all-time high.

Cisco’s stock has traded in a 52-week range of $52.11 to $74.84, and its all-time high was set during the March 2000 dot-com era at $82.

For updates and corrections, email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]com.

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