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Cisco Earnings Preview: Margin and Outlook in Focus

Cisco reports fiscal first-quarter results after the US close tomorrow, with shares well below their June peak and investors set to focus on gross margin and the full-year outlook.

Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) reports fiscal first-quarter results after the US close tomorrow, Thursday, with the call at 4:30pm ET (9:30pm UK). The networking, security, and Splunk observability group has guided to revenue of $18.0bn to $18.2bn and adjusted (non-GAAP) earnings of $1.32 to $1.34 a share.

The shares closed today at $100.76, up 2.66% from $98.15, after a weekly close of $93.85 in the week of 2 November, their recent low. That is roughly 22% below the peak of around $130 in June. Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to Equal-weight last Thursday, cutting its target to $120 from $135, citing lower-margin hyperscaler hardware and possible customer pull-forward.

CSCO.US

Cisco has beaten EPS consensus in each of its last four quarters, yet the shares moved +7.91%, -13.08%, +16.36% and -5.78% afterward. A small beat has not decided the reaction. Margin may: non-GAAP gross margin, the share of sales left after direct costs, was 66.3% last quarter against 68.4% a year earlier, and the new guide is 65% to 66%.

MetricCisco guidanceConsensusYear ago
Revenue$18.0bn-$18.2bn$18.09bn (Zacks)About $14.9bn
Non-GAAP EPS$1.32-$1.34$1.33 (Zacks)$1.00
Non-GAAP gross margin65%-66%No dataNo data

Consensus sits in the middle of guidance. The full-year guide may matter more: Cisco has pointed to fiscal 2027 revenue of $72.2bn to $73.4bn, up from $63.3bn in fiscal 2026, and EPS of $5.05 to $5.11, up from $4.33.

Line chart of Cisco's weekly share price over the past 12 months, rising to a mid-2026 peak and easing back before results
Cisco weekly share price closes, 3 November 2025 to 11 November 2026, US dollars. The shares have eased back from their June peak.

The bull case is AI. Cisco booked $9.3bn of hyperscaler orders in fiscal 2026 and expects $7.5bn in revenue from them in fiscal 2027, up from about $4bn in fiscal 2026. Hyperscalers are the giant cloud and AI data-centre operators that buy its networking gear.

Also worth watching are networking, where product revenue grew 28% last quarter, and security, up 14%. The $0.42 quarterly dividend and $8.1bn of remaining buyback authorisation provide a backdrop. UK traders can only react at Friday’s London open.

Asktraders News Team
Asktraders News Team
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The AskTraders Analyst Team features experts in technical and fundamental analysis, as well as traders specializing in stocks, forex, and cryptocurrency.

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