Latest news with #CiscoSystems
Yahoo
17 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Stock Market Today: Dow Rises, Nasdaq At Highs As Tech Rallies; SoundHound Surges On AI Demand (Live Coverage)
The Nasdaq and S&P 500 held solid gains in the stock market today, helped by strength in Apple, Cisco Systems and Alphabet. Solve the daily Crossword
Globe and Mail
18 hours ago
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Should Cisco Stock Be in Your Portfolio Pre-Q4 Earnings?
Cisco Systems CSCO is set to release its fourth-quarter fiscal 2025 results on Aug. 13. The company anticipates fourth-quarter fiscal 2025 revenues between $14.5 billion and $14.7 billion. Non-GAAP earnings are expected between 96 and 98 cents per share. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenues is pegged at $14.6 billion, indicating growth of 7.1% from the year-ago quarter's reported figure. The consensus mark for earnings has been steady at 97 cents per share over the past 30 days, suggesting year-over-year growth of 11.5%. CSCO's earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in all the trailing four quarters, the average being 3.94%. Cisco Systems, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise Cisco Systems, Inc. price-eps-surprise | Cisco Systems, Inc. Quote Let's see how things are shaping up prior to this announcement. Key Factors to Note for CSCO's Q4 Earnings Cisco's fourth-quarter fiscal 2025 results are expected to have benefited from improved demand for networking products driven by switching, enterprise routing, webscale infrastructure, and industrial networking applications. AI-powered cloud managed Meraki for government networking solution achieved FedRAMP authorization from the U.S. government in the third quarter of fiscal 2025, which bodes well for the company's federal business. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal fourth-quarter Networking revenues is currently pegged at $7.19 billion, indicating 5.6% year-over-year growth. Cisco's strategy of infusing AI across Security platforms and developing Agentic capabilities across the portfolio is a key catalyst. In May, Cisco unveiled Duo Identity and Access Management (IAM) solutions that help enterprises fight continuing identity-based attacks. Duo IAM strengthens Cisco's approach to user-friendly Zero Trust security. In June, the company announced enhanced security solutions embedded deep into its networking infrastructure that will help companies implement zero-trust architectures. Cisco's Hybrid Mesh Firewall and Universal Zero Trust Network Access solutions simplify policy management, enhance visibility and enable enterprises to scale securely. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal fourth-quarter Security revenues is currently pegged at $2.2 billion, indicating 23.2% year-over-year growth. CSCO Shares Outperform Sector Cisco shares have appreciated 18.1% year to date, outperforming the Zacks Computer & Technology sector's return of 12.7% as well as closest peers like Dell Technologies DELL and Hewlett Packard Enterprise HPE. While shares of Dell Technologies has returned 16.2%, Hewlett-Packard has declined 4.4%. CSCO Stock's Performance However, Cisco stock is not so cheap, as the Value Score of D suggests a stretched valuation at this moment. In terms of the forward 12-month P/S ratio, CSCO is trading at 4.67X, higher than the industry's 4.37X, Dell Technologies' 0.85X, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise's 0.69X. Price/Sales (F12M) Cisco Rides on Strong Portfolio, Rich Partner Base Cisco's aggressive AI push and growing security dominance have been major growth drivers. Cisco secured AI infrastructure orders worth more than $1 billion to date in fiscal 2025, a quarter ahead of schedule. The momentum is expected to continue in the near term, thanks to an expanding portfolio and collaboration with NVIDIA NVDA. The company is expanding its AI portfolio for data centers with new solutions like the Unified Nexus Dashboard, Cisco Intelligent Packet Flow, configurable AI PODs and 400G bidirectional (BiDi) optics. Cisco's 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's rich partner base, which includes Meta Platforms, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Lenovo and ServiceNow, deserves attention. CSCO's collaboration with NVIDIA is helping to expand the former's datacenter infrastructure portfolio. CSCO's latest NVIDIA-powered AI server and AI PODs, integrated with NVIDIA's AI Enterprise cloud-native software and managed via Cisco Intersight, simplify and de-risk AI infrastructure. The company is expanding its portfolio by unveiling AI factory architecture developed in collaboration with NVIDIA. This is expected to drive up Cisco's AI-driven revenues. Cisco deepened its partnership with ServiceNow, combining the former's infrastructure and security platforms with the latter's AI-driven platform and security solutions. The first integration brings together Cisco's AI Defense capabilities with ServiceNow SecOps to provide more holistic AI risk management and governance. Conclusion Cisco's near-term results are expected to benefit from an improving networking business and growing security business, along with a rich partner base. Cisco currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), which implies that investors should buy the stock ahead of fourth-quarter earnings results. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. See our %%CTA_TEXT%% report – free today! 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days 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 Dell Technologies Inc. (DELL): Free Stock Analysis Report NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA): Free Stock Analysis Report Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (HPE): Free Stock Analysis Report
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Is Cisco Systems (CSCO) Stock Outpacing Its Computer and Technology Peers This Year?
For those looking to find strong Computer and Technology stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Cisco Systems (CSCO) is a stock that can certainly grab the attention of many investors, but do its recent returns compare favorably to the sector as a whole? By taking a look at the stock's year-to-date performance in comparison to its Computer and Technology peers, we might be able to answer that question. Cisco Systems is a member of our Computer and Technology group, which includes 605 different companies and currently sits at #6 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank includes 16 different groups and is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. The Zacks Rank is a proven model that highlights a variety of stocks with the right characteristics to outperform the market over the next one to three months. The system emphasizes earnings estimate revisions and favors companies with improving earnings outlooks. Cisco Systems is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy). Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for CSCO's full-year earnings has moved 0.7% higher. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend. Our latest available data shows that CSCO has returned about 15.7% since the start of the calendar year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Computer and Technology group have gained about 11.8% on average. As we can see, Cisco Systems is performing better than its sector in the calendar year. Another Computer and Technology stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is F5 Networks (FFIV). The stock has returned 27.7% year-to-date. In F5 Networks' case, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year increased 5.6% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). Looking more specifically, Cisco Systems belongs to the Computer - Networking industry, a group that includes 8 individual stocks and currently sits at #100 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have gained 15.2% this year, meaning that CSCO is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns. In contrast, F5 Networks falls under the Internet - Software industry. Currently, this industry has 173 stocks and is ranked #78. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved +22.2%. Investors with an interest in Computer and Technology stocks should continue to track Cisco Systems and F5 Networks. These stocks will be looking to continue their solid performance. 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 F5, Inc. (FFIV) : 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
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Cisco Systems Stock: Is Wall Street Bullish or Bearish?
With a market cap of $265.8 billion, Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO) is a global leader in IP-based networking and communication technology, offering a broad range of products and services for businesses, governments, and service providers. The company is rapidly expanding in areas like network security, cloud collaboration, and data center solutions, leveraging innovations such as Zero Trust Architecture and secure endpoint management. Shares of the San Jose, California-based company have outperformed the broader market over the past 52 weeks. CSCO stock has climbed 41.6% over this time frame, while the broader S&P 500 Index ($SPX) has rallied 14.5%. Moreover, shares of Cisco Systems are up 13.4% on a YTD basis, compared to SPX's 6.1% gain. More News from Barchart Find Winning Momentum Trades With This Moving Average Stock Screener Tariffs, Earnings and Other Can't Miss Items this Week This Blue-Chip Dividend Stock Is Stuck in the Tariff Crosshairs. Can Cost Cuts Save the Day? Stop Missing Market Moves: Get the FREE Barchart Brief – your midday dose of stock movers, trending sectors, and actionable trade ideas, delivered right to your inbox. Sign Up Now! Looking closer, the networking giant stock has also outpaced the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund's (XLK) over 22% return over the past 52 weeks. Shares of Cisco soared 4.9% following its Q3 2025 results on May 14. The company reported adjusted EPS of $0.96 and revenue of $14.1 billion, exceeding expectations. Cisco also raised its fiscal 2025 revenue forecast to $56.5 billion - $56.7 billion and its adjusted EPS guidance to $3.77 - $3.79. Investor confidence was further boosted by over $600 million in AI infrastructure orders during the quarter and a year-to-date total surpassing $1 billion. For the fiscal year that ended in July 2025, analysts expect CSCO's EPS to decline 1.9% year-over-year to $3.06. However, the company's earnings surprise history is promising. It beat the consensus estimates in the last four quarters. Among the 23 analysts covering the stock, the consensus rating is a 'Moderate Buy.' That's based on 13 'Strong Buys,' one 'Moderate Buy' rating, and nine 'Holds.' On Jul. 28, Evercore ISI downgraded Cisco from 'Outperform' to 'In Line' and kept its $72 price target, citing a cyclical recovery in enterprise networking and increased focus on cloud and AI. As of writing, the stock is trading below the mean price target of $72.47. The Street-high price target of $79 implies a potential upside of 17.7% from the current price levels. On the date of publication, Sohini Mondal did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on
Globe and Mail
6 days ago
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Where Will Arista Networks Be in 1 Year?
Key Points Arista is benefiting from the rapid growth of the cloud and AI markets. But its dependence on big hyperscale customers is squeezing its gross margins. A lot of of its near-term growth is already baked into its premium valuations. 10 stocks we like better than Arista Networks › Arista Networks ' (NYSE: ANET) stock has rallied more than 50% over the past 12 months. It also trades less than 10% below its all-time high from this January. The computer networking company impressed investors with its robust growth rates and exposure to the booming cloud and AI markets. But will Arista's stock soar even higher over the next year, or is it due to take a breather? Let's review Arista's growth rates, its near-term catalysts, and its valuations to decide. Understanding Arista's business Arista controls a smaller slice of the networking market than Cisco Systems, but it differentiates itself from its bigger competitor in several key ways. Arista's modular operating system, EOS, is compatible with a wider range of open networking protocols than Cisco's systems, which are often known for locking its customers into its "walled garden." In addition, Arista focuses on selling lower-latency switches, which are optimized for hyperscale cloud networks, while Cisco bundles together a broader range of enterprise campus, branch, wide-area networking (WAN), and data center solutions. Arista's flexibility and scalability made it the preferred networking hardware and software provider for cloud and AI giants like Meta Platforms and Microsoft. Its CloudVision platform also helps those clients easily monitor and analyze their data center deployments. So while Cisco is still considered a "one stop shop" for big enterprise networking deployments, Arista is emerging as a higher-growth play on the expanding cloud and AI markets. From 2019 to 2024, Arista's revenue expanded at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 24%. Its cloud and hyperscale markets continued to expand throughout the pandemic, and its tighter portfolio of products insulated it from the supply chain disruptions which impacted Cisco and other networking hardware companies. What happened to Arista over the past year? In 2025, Arista's revenue rose 19.5%, its adjusted gross margin rose 200 basis points to 64.6%, and its adjusted earnings per share (EPS) grew 31.2%. Here's how rapidly it grew over the past year. Data source: Arista Networks. YOY = Year over year. Arista's recent growth was largely driven by the rapid expansion of the cloud and AI markets. However, its gross margins are declining as it sells a higher mix of lower-margin, high-volume routers and switches to those big customers. It doesn't have much pricing power against those cloud titans, which often demand higher-volume discounts. At the same time, inflation, elevated interest rates, tariffs, and other macroheadwinds are driving its component and supply chain costs higher. By comparison, Cisco's adjusted gross margin expanded 30 basis points year over year to 68.6% in its latest quarter. Those higher margins reflect Cisco's stronger pricing power, which it reinforces through its aggressive bundling strategies. For the second quarter of 2025, Arista expects its revenue to rise 24.3% year over year as its adjusted gross margin dips to 63%. For the full year, analysts expect its revenue and adjusted EPS to grow 20% and 13%, respectively. Most of that growth should be driven by the growing adoption of its 800G Ethernet products for handling AI workloads. Where will Arista's stock be in a year? Arista is still growing rapidly, but it can't be considered a bargain at 50 times its trailing earnings. Cisco, which is growing at a much slower rate, trades at 28 times earnings. For 2026, analysts expect Arista's revenue and adjusted EPS to grow 18% and 17%, respectively, as the AI boom continues. If Arista matches those estimates and still trades at 50 times earnings, its stock price could rise more than 20% to $150 over the next 12 months. But if it trades at 30 times earnings, its stock could drop more than 25% to $90. Therefore, Arista's upside potential might be limited by its valuations over the next year as investors wait to see if its robust revenue growth can offset its declining gross margins. It might still eke out some modest gains, but it probably won't replicate its rally from the past 12 months. Should you invest $1,000 in Arista Networks right now? Before you buy stock in Arista Networks, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Arista Networks wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $624,823!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,064,820!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,019% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 178% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of July 29, 2025
