Latest news with #CSCO
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
CSCO Q1 Earnings Call: AI Demand and New Partnerships Drive Strategic Shift
Networking technology giant Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO) missed Wall Street's revenue expectations in Q1 CY2025, but sales rose 11.4% year on year to $14.15 billion. Its non-GAAP EPS of $0.96 per share was 4.6% above analysts' consensus estimates. Is now the time to buy CSCO? Find out in our full research report (it's free). Revenue: $14.15 billion (11.4% year-on-year growth) Adjusted EPS: $0.96 vs analyst estimates of $0.92 (4.6% beat) Revenue Guidance for Q2 CY2025 is $14.6 billion at the midpoint, roughly in line with what analysts were expecting Management raised its full-year Adjusted EPS guidance to $3.78 at the midpoint, a 1.9% increase Operating Margin: 22.6%, up from 17.2% in the same quarter last year Annual Recurring Revenue: $30.6 billion at quarter end, up 4.8% year on year Billings: $14.26 billion at quarter end, up 5.5% year on year Market Capitalization: $254.9 billion Cisco's first quarter highlighted significant momentum in its AI and networking businesses, fueled by double-digit growth in product orders and strong performance in key segments like enterprise routing and campus switching. CEO Chuck Robbins emphasized the impact of accelerated product innovation and the company's ability to deliver large-scale AI infrastructure, noting, 'We received AI infrastructure orders from web-scale customers in excess of $600 million in Q1, bringing our year-to-date total to well over $1 billion.' Management credited the quarter's growth to robust demand across web-scale, enterprise, and public sector customers, as well as ongoing adoption of new products like WiFi 7 and industrial IoT offerings. Additionally, the integration of Splunk contributed to security segment growth, with notable wins in the financial services sector. Looking ahead, Cisco's leadership pointed to a multi-year runway for AI-related demand and expansion into sovereign cloud opportunities as key drivers of its forward guidance. Robbins outlined the importance of partnerships, such as the recent collaboration with NVIDIA and new initiatives in the Middle East, stating, 'We believe the AI opportunity for us is a strong one…we play across the full stack.' CFO Scott Herren highlighted ongoing tariff uncertainty and the impact of supply chain agility on gross margins, while also noting that the ramp-up of enterprise AI deployments and new product launches are expected to support revenue and margin performance. Management's outlook is shaped by expectations of continued demand for AI infrastructure, heightened security needs, and the transition to more recurring, software-driven revenue streams. Cisco's first quarter results were shaped by heightened demand for AI infrastructure, progress in security and software, and the continued shift toward recurring revenue. Management also discussed organizational changes and new strategic partnerships. AI infrastructure order momentum: Cisco surpassed its annual AI order target early, with over $600 million in web-scale AI infrastructure orders during the quarter. Management attributed this to strong demand from large data center customers and emphasized that these orders are non-linear, depending on customer deployment schedules and Cisco's delivery capacity. Security segment acceleration: The integration of Splunk drove high double-digit growth in security orders, highlighted by a major multi-year deal with a financial services customer. Cisco's new security products, including Secure Access, XDR, and Hypershield, collectively added over 370 new customers, with many bundling security directly into network hardware. Recurring revenue focus: The company reported steady gains in annual recurring revenue and product ARR, with subscription revenue now comprising more than half of total revenue. This ongoing transition to software and services is intended to improve business predictability and resilience. Product innovation pipeline: Cisco announced several advancements, including the launch of a quantum network prototype and new AI-driven security solutions. The company also highlighted its partnership with NVIDIA to create unified network architectures for AI workloads, aiming to simplify deployment and enhance security for enterprise customers. Leadership changes: CFO Scott Herren announced his retirement, with Chief Strategy Officer Mark Patterson set to take over. Jeetu Patel was promoted to President and Chief Product Officer, reflecting a renewed focus on product strategy and accelerated innovation. Additionally, Kevin Weil, Chief Product Officer of OpenAI, joined the board of directors. Cisco expects future performance to be driven by sustained AI infrastructure investment, an expanding partner ecosystem, and increased focus on software-based solutions. Ongoing AI demand: Management believes that the global expansion of AI, including sovereign cloud initiatives and enterprise AI deployments, will provide a multi-year growth opportunity. Cisco anticipates demand from both web-scale and enterprise customers as AI applications require advanced networking and security. Supply chain and tariff management: The company faces ongoing uncertainty around tariffs, particularly after the July 9 pause ends. Cisco's ability to leverage its supply chain scale and flexibility is expected to mitigate some cost pressures, though management cautions that tariffs could impact gross margins in the near term. Recurring revenue and new solutions: Cisco is prioritizing the growth of its subscription-based offerings and accelerating the rollout of new products, such as the WiFi 7 portfolio and AI-powered security tools. These initiatives are intended to drive more predictable revenue streams and capitalize on evolving customer needs. Looking forward, the StockStory team will be monitoring (1) the pace at which AI infrastructure orders convert into revenue, (2) execution on new partnerships and sovereign cloud deals such as the HUMAIN initiative, and (3) the rollout and adoption rates for Cisco's latest security and networking products. Progress on recurring revenue growth and the impact of tariff changes on margins will also be important indicators to watch. Cisco currently trades at a forward P/E ratio of 16.5×. At this valuation, is it a buy or sell post earnings? The answer lies in our full research report (it's free). Donald Trump's victory in the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election sent major indices to all-time highs, but stocks have retraced as investors debate the health of the economy and the potential impact of tariffs. While this leaves much uncertainty around 2025, a few companies are poised for long-term gains regardless of the political or macroeconomic climate, like our Top 5 Strong Momentum Stocks for this week. This is a curated list of our High Quality stocks that have generated a market-beating return of 183% over the last five years (as of March 31st 2025). Stocks that made our list in 2020 include now familiar names such as Nvidia (+1,545% between March 2020 and March 2025) as well as under-the-radar businesses like the once-small-cap company Exlservice (+354% five-year return). Find your next big winner with StockStory today. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO) Can Benefit From The European Market, Says Jim Cramer
We recently published a list of . In this article, we are going to take a look at where Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) stands against other stocks that Jim Cramer discusses. Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) is one of the biggest networking equipment providers in the world. The firm's shares have gained 6.8% year-to-date after successfully navigating through a steep 14% drop in April after President Trump's tariff announcements. Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)'s shares have gained 18.7% since the bottom as they have benefited from several catalysts. These include the firm's fiscal third-quarter earnings report which sent the stock 4.9% higher as Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) raised its full-year revenue guidance to $56.5 billion – $56.7 billion from the earlier $56 billion – $56.5 billion and hiked profit-per-share estimates to $3.77 and $3.79 from an earlier $3.68 to $3.74. The firm's revenue guidance also beat analyst estimates. Here's what Cramer said about the firm: 'Cisco has some good things in Europe.' Engineers using the latest Cisco TelePresence technology to collaborate with colleagues around the world. Cramer previously commented about Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) in February. Back then, markets were still reeling from the shock of the DeepSeek selloff in January and investors were wondering whether AI stocks still held promise. Cramer commented on Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)'s deal with NVIDIA: 'People are talking about NVIDIA. And there is a nice deal this morning with Cisco. I think it's actually much more important than people realize. Cisco's the first to qualify. It's going to be a real partnership. And that uh Chuck Robbins working closely with Jensen. But there is an overwhelming sense that this market keys on NVIDIA at a moment when we have no idea what the federal government's gonna do to NVIDIA.' Overall, CSCO ranks 12th on our list of stocks that Jim Cramer discusses. While we acknowledge the potential of CSCO, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than CSCO and that has 100x upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock. READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires. Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Agentic AI Poised to Handle 68% of Customer Service and Support Interactions by 2028
New Cisco Research Reveals Overwhelming Demand for Agentic AI to Transform the Way Technology Vendors Deliver Customer Experience News Summary: The rise of agentic AI: By 2026, 68% of all customer service and support interactions with technology vendors are expected to be handled by agentic AI. Customer experience becomes mission-critical: With growing IT complexity, 92% of organizations say the support and services they receive are more important than ever. Transformational benefits of AI: A striking 93% of respondents predict that agentic AI will enable more personalized, proactive, and predictive services. The power of human connection: Despite AI's rise, 89% of customers emphasize the need to combine human connection with AI efficiency to optimize experiences. SAN JOSE, Calif., May 27, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) today announced the findings of its latest global research report, "The Race to an Agentic Future: How Agentic AI Will Transform Customer Experience," highlighting the potential of agentic AI to revolutionize the way technology vendors deliver services and support to customers. In the survey of 7,950 global business and technical decision-makers across 30 countries, respondents predict that agentic AI will play an increasingly prominent role in their interactions with technology vendors over the coming years and are positive about the benefits it will bring. 88% report they feel confident that the agentic AI-led customer experience provided by technology partners will help their organization achieve its goals – for example, making their IT environments and operations more efficient, resilient and secure, accelerating their most important strategic IT projects, and maximizing value from their IT investments. Respondents also expect the pivot to agentic AI-led customer experience (including technical support, customer success and professional services) to advance at a far greater velocity than the industry anticipated. They predict that 68% of their customer experience interactions with technology partners will be handled using agentic AI within the next three years. And, surprisingly, they expect more than half (56%) of interactions to be through agentic AI within the next 12 months, representing a significant increase and heaping pressure onto those vendors who are still only in the early stages of thinking about agentic. Liz Centoni, EVP & Chief Customer Experience Officer, Cisco, commented: "With agentic AI reaching a new level of maturity, we're closer than ever to solving some of the most persistent customer pain points in enterprise environments. For instance, a significant share of network issues stem from misconfiguration, something agentic systems are poised to eliminate. That shift will lead to smarter networks, stronger security, and more productive teams. As an industry, we've been talking about these concepts for decades, and while we've made incremental progress, AI - and especially agentic AI - is making that vision a reality. "We are drawing on four decades of data, our deep industry knowledge, and the trust of our customers to re-imagine Cisco Customer Experience as an agentic-led function. Our vision is to make every customer interaction with Cisco personalized, proactive, and predictive, and to make every customer feel like they are our only customer. And while we're making meaningful progress, this new research makes one thing clear: we have to move faster." In recent years, in response to growing IT complexity, technology businesses have introduced automation into their workflows and layered in AI to streamline support and services. This approach has still required human intervention to stitch processes together – to monitor, decide, act and adapt. Agentic AI negates the need for this level of human intervention. Agentic AI is a category of artificial intelligence that leverages AI Agents and a contextualized interconnection among them. Agentic AI requires agency, meaning the AI Agents are capable of having memory, are task aware and possess the ability to independently take actions – or choose what actions to take or recommend – to achieve a particular outcome through the ability to learn from their environment and reason, with minimal human oversight. This frees up customer experience professionals to focus on complex problem-solving, humans-on-the-loop feedback process for specific use-cases (where humans, for example, provide feedback to an AI system to improve its performance and focus on accurate and safe results), and building deeper, trusted relationships with customers. The research highlights the urgent need for technology vendors, many of whom are still only exploring the potential for agentic AI deployment within customer experience, to accelerate their strategies. Respondents are clear that they believe vendors who are left behind or fail to deploy agentic AI in an effective, secure and ethical manner, will suffer a deterioration in customer relationships, reputational damage and higher levels of customer churn. Meanwhile, the research highlights that respondents feel that vendors who embrace this transformation head-on, seamlessly and ethically deploying agentic AI across the technology lifecycle, will benefit from data-driven insights, improved scalability within their support and services, and loyalty at scale. Customer experience will become a strategic differentiator, with 81% of respondents predicting that vendors that successfully deliver agentic AI-led customer experience will gain a competitive edge. Key Findings Accelerated demand for customer experience: As levels of IT complexity increase, organizations are leaning on technology vendors more than ever before. 92% of respondents state that the support and services provided by vendors are becoming more critical in the AI era. Use cases across the technology lifecycle: more than 80% of respondents point to potential benefits of agentic AI-led customer experience at every stage of the technology lifecycle, with customer and technical support, technology strategy and planning, and operations viewed as the greatest opportunities. Game-changing benefits: customers expect agentic AI to drive improvements in IT productivity, time savings, and cost savings, as well as opportunities to improve data analytics, troubleshooting, and alignment of technology investment with digital transformation goals. Human connection is irreplaceable: customers want to retain human interaction when engaging with support and services, with 96% stating that human relationships are very important when interacting with B2B technology partners. Robust governance is non-negotiable: 99% of respondents state that it's important for technology partners to demonstrate robust governance arrangements to deliver ethical use of agentic AI, and 81% feel that vendors need to share their vision for AI-led customer experience to bring customers along on the journey. You can read the full report here: The Race to an Agentic Future: How Agentic AI Will Transform Customer Resources Research Report Executive Blog Digital Newsroom About Cisco Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide technology leader that is revolutionizing the way organizations connect and protect in the AI era. For more than 40 years, Cisco has securely connected the world. With its industry leading AI-powered solutions and services, Cisco enables its customers, partners and communities to unlock innovation, enhance productivity and strengthen digital resilience. With purpose at its core, Cisco remains committed to creating a more connected and inclusive future for all. Discover more on The Newsroom and follow us on X at @Cisco. Cisco and the Cisco logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Cisco and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. A listing of Cisco's trademarks can be found at Third-party trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word 'partner' does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company. View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Cisco Systems, Inc. Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data
Web Release
23-05-2025
- Business
- Web Release
Cisco Joins Stargate UAE Initiative
Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) the global leader in networking and security, today announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to join the Stargate UAE consortium as a preferred technology partner. The strategic MoU, signed by Cisco's Chair and Chief Executive Officer Chuck Robbins together with other consortium partners, G42, OpenAI, Oracle, NVIDIA and SoftBank Group, envisions the construction of an AI data center in Abu Dhabi with a target capacity of 1 GW, with an initial 200 MW capacity to be delivered in 2026. As a partner in this initiative, Cisco will provide advanced networking, security and observability solutions to accelerate the deployment of next-generation AI compute clusters. 'With the right infrastructure in place, AI can transform data into insights that empower every organization to innovate faster, tackle complex challenges, and deliver tangible outcomes,' said Chuck Robbins, Cisco Chair and CEO. 'Cisco is proud to join this consortium to harness the power of AI and deliver the infrastructure that will enable tomorrow's breakthroughs.' Today's announcement follows Robbins' recent visit to Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE where Cisco announced a series of strategic initiatives across all phases of the AI transformation in the region. These new initiatives employ Cisco's trusted technology across the region's AI infrastructure buildouts, leveraging the company's deep expertise in networking and security together with longstanding regional partnerships. By fostering the development of secure, AI-powered digital infrastructure and collaborating with key Cisco partners, the company is delivering world-class, trusted technology to the region. For more information on Cisco's recent announcements in the Middle East, see here.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Is Cisco Stock's 4.3X PS Still Worth it? Buy, Sell, or Hold?
Cisco Systems CSCO shares are trading at a premium, as suggested by the Value Score of D. In terms of the forward 12-month price/sales, CSCO is trading at a premium of 4.3X, higher than the Zacks Computer Networks industry's shares are trading at a premium compared to its closest industry peers, including Extreme Networks EXTR and NETGEAR NTGR. In terms of the forward 12-month P/S, Extreme Networks shares are trading at 1.75X, while NETGEAR is trading at 1.23X. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research In terms of share price movement, Cisco shares have appreciated 13.6% in the past month, underperforming the industry's and the Zacks Computer & Technology sector's return of 14.3% and 15.5%, respectively. Cisco shares have underperformed NETGEAR and Extreme Networks in the past month, shares of which have surged 36.2% and 34.5%, respectively, over the same timeframe. Cisco shares suffered from a challenging macroeconomic condition. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research However, Cisco's aggressive AI push and growing security dominance, as reflected by the recently concluded third quarter of fiscal 2025 results, are noteworthy. Security revenues jumped 54% year over year, while Networking increased 8%. In third-quarter fiscal 2025, total product orders grew 20% year over year or 9% on an organic basis. Networking product orders grew double-digits, driven by web-scale infrastructure, enterprise routing, switching and industrial IoT products. Campus switching orders grew in the high single digits in the reported quarter. WiFi 7 orders increased triple-digit on a sequential company has expanded its portfolio by unveiling AI factory architecture developed in collaboration with NVIDIA NVDA. This is expected to drive up Cisco's AI-driven revenues. Cisco had AI infrastructure orders worth more than $600 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2025, surpassing Cisco's $1 billion annual target a quarter ahead of expanded partnership with NVIDIA, under which the companies plan to offer solutions that help build AI-ready data center networks, is a game changer. Cisco Secure AI Factory with NVIDIA is founded on the NVIDIA Spectrum-X Ethernet networking platform. Security is at the core of the solution and helps enterprises simplify, deploy, manage and secure AI infrastructure at any scale. The launch of 800-gig Nexus switches based on Cisco's 51.2 terabit Silicon One chip in April is expected to drive orders from AI-based cloud customers. Cisco's strategy of infusing AI across Security and Collaboration platforms and developing Agentic capabilities across the portfolio is a key catalyst. It is leveraging Agentic AI to improve customer experience. The launch of Renewals Agent, an Agentic AI-driven solution co-developed with Mistral, and a new Assistant to help customers digitize and de-risk Network Change Management have been noteworthy developments in this security business is benefiting from strong demand for both Cisco Secure Access, Hypershield and XDR. On a combined basis, these solutions added more than 370 customers in the reported quarter. The acquisition of Snap Attack enhances Splunk's capability. For fiscal 2025, CSCO expects revenues to be $56.5-$56.7 billion, up from the previous guidance of $56-$56.5 billion. Non-GAAP earnings are now expected between $3.77 per share and $3.79 per share, better than the previous guidance of $3.68-$3.74 per share. Cisco Systems, Inc. price-consensus-chart | Cisco Systems, Inc. Quote The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CSCO's fiscal 2025 revenues is pegged at $56.57 billion, indicating growth of 5.14% on a year-over-year basis. The consensus mark for CSCO's 2025 earnings is currently pegged at $3.77 per share, up by a penny over the past 30 days, indicating year-over-year growth of 0.27%. An expanding and innovative portfolio makes Cisco well-positioned for sustained growth in an evolving tech landscape. AI push is noteworthy, along with a growing footprint in the security stock is currently trading above the 50-day and the 200-day moving averages, indicating a bullish trend. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research However, a challenging macroeconomic condition, as well as stiff competition in the networking and security domain, is expected to hurt Cisco's prospects in the near currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), suggesting that it may be wise for investors to wait for a better point to start accumulating the stock. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO) : Free Stock Analysis Report NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) : Free Stock Analysis Report NETGEAR, Inc. (NTGR) : Free Stock Analysis Report Extreme Networks, Inc. (EXTR) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research ( Zacks Investment Research Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
