Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) reports its fiscal third-quarter 2026 results on Wednesday, May 13, 2026, after market close.
The quarter ended April 25, 2026, and Wall Street will be watching closely after a volatile earnings cycle that has sent shares on a rollercoaster ride.
Analyst consensus tracked by Yahoo Finance pegs revenue at $15.56 billion and non-GAAP EPS at $1.04. Both figures sit comfortably within the guidance range Cisco issued back in February, when management forecast Q3 revenue of $15.4B–$15.6B. With the consensus right at the top of that range, the market is effectively pricing in a beat — raising the bar for the company to impress.
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The headline bull thesis heading into Q3 is Cisco’s surging AI infrastructure order book. In Q2 FY2026 alone, the company booked $2.1 billion in AI-related orders — equivalent to its entire FY2025 AI order total — pushing its cumulative tally to over $5 billion. Silicon One-powered networking deployments with hyperscalers are accelerating, making Cisco an increasingly credible pick-and-shovel AI play.
After dropping over 12% post-Q2 despite a revenue record of $15.3B — the market punished Cisco for “mediocre” forward guidance — shares have staged a sharp recovery, rallying since February to trade above $98. That eclipses the prior 52-week high and is above in on the 12-month analyst consensus price target of $90.67.
The bear case centres on sequentially contracting gross margins — a trend that has persisted for several quarters and reflects higher Splunk integration costs and product mix headwinds.
With the stock trading above analyst targets, investors will need more than a revenue beat: a meaningful guidance upgrade and evidence of margin stabilisation are likely required to push CSCO significantly higher from current levels.
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