This Analyst Sees A 22% Upside In CSCO Stock Ahead Of Earnings

• Target price of $120 signifies a near 22% upside from CSCO’s Monday closing price. 
• CSCO is expected to release its quarterly earnings on Wednesday after-hours. 
• 17 out of 26 analysts rate the stock ‘buy’ and nine rate ‘hold’.

Cisco (CSCO) share price gained 2% on Monday and inched higher after-hours after NYSE insider Jay Woods released his target price on the stock ahead of the company’s earnings due later this week. 

Jay Woods, who was the New York Stock Exchange’s (NYSE) executive floor governor and currently the chief market strategist at Freedom Capital markets, expects the share price of the internet infrastructure company to rise to $110 or $120 over the next quarter as “realistic upside targets”, according to CNBC. 

Shares of Cisco closed at $98.7 on Monday. A price level of $120 would imply a rally of near 22%. The company reports earnings after Wednesday’s closing bell.   

“Cisco — a juggernaut back in the 90s, but hasn’t had that parabolic rise like it used to. Will it continue to rally into this strong tape? Right now it’s up 25% year to date, but last quarter they missed. Last quarter it was down 12% after a strong quarter, but people [were] concerned about the margins when it came to the memory spend,” said Woods, chief market strategist at Freedom Capital Markets, told CNBC in an interview. 

Cisco has consistently beaten earnings and revenue estimates over the past 20 consecutive quarters, with investors moving their attention to the company’s shift from a hardware provider to one centered on AI infrastructure, cloud services, and software integration.

CSCO Q3 Earnings Preview 

In Q2 2026, Cisco delivered record-breaking results characterized by double-digit growth, reporting revenue of $15.35 billion, up 10% year-over-year, and adjusted earnings of $1.04 per share, both of which exceeded analyst expectations. 

Cisco reported a massive 65% jump in orders from cloud customers and booked $2.1 billion in AI infrastructure orders from hyperscalers during the quarter. 

For Q3 2026, analysts expect revenues of $15.82 billion and earnings of $1.07 per share, as per data from Fiscal.ai,  with investors looking for commentary on the plan to fulfill the $2 billion order flow amid supply constraints.   

CSCO Retail View

Retail sentiment on Stocktwits was “extremely bullish” with “high” message volumes. 

17 out of 26 analysts rate the stock ‘buy’ and nine rate ‘hold’, as per Koyfin data. 

One user expressed bullishness by saying CSCO could hit $120 per share following a strong quarterly performance and robust guidance. 

The stock has gained 16% over the past 12-months.

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