Cisco Systems Trending as Analysts Lift Targets

Cisco Systems (CSCO) stock has fallen 0.8% over the past week and 3.6% over the past month, but it is still up a strong 29.3% over the last 12 months. Despite the recent pullback, Wall Street’s analysts are leaning positive, with a “ModerateBuy” consensus and an average 12‑month price target of $88.80 versus the last closing price of $74.59. That target suggests room for further gains if Cisco can deliver on growth expectations.

One of the most notable voices weighing in is Amit Daryanani of Evercore ISI, who upgraded Cisco to a Buy (Outperform) rating on January 26, 2026 and raised his price target to $100 from $80. This new target implies meaningful upside from current levels and sits well above the Street’s average. Daryanani argues that whether investors view Cisco as a cyclical or secular play, the company is positioned to sustain high single-digit sales growth and low-teens earnings-per-share growth over several years, while still trading at under 20 times earnings—below many large-cap tech peers.

A big part of the bullish case is a coming “campus refresh” cycle. Daryanani notes that many customers are now upgrading to next-generation campus networking solutions roughly eight years after the last big refresh, which centered around Cisco’s Catalyst 9000 line and built up an install base worth over $70 billion. As Cisco begins to phase out older Catalyst 4000 and 6000 platforms over the next few quarters, that could drive additional hardware replacement. At the same time, rising demand for WiFi‑7 and higher bandwidth, along with greater need for Power over Ethernet, is expected to support solid industry growth of about 6–8% through 2026.

Another major growth engine is artificial intelligence. According to Daryanani, Cisco is on track to generate roughly $3 billion in AI-related revenue in fiscal 2026—about 5% of total sales—with more than $4 billion in AI orders compared with $2 billion last year. This momentum is coming from four large hyperscale cloud customers and could broaden further with new products like the P200 platform and wins in enterprise and sovereign markets. Cisco’s Silicon One chips are gaining traction as customers seek alternatives amid supply concerns with other vendors, and its optics business, particularly 800G pluggable modules, is expected to post growth above 25%.

Daryanani also highlights a recovery in traditional telecom and core enterprise spending as another tailwind, especially as companies work to make their networks “AI ready.” He believes Cisco can expand its EBIT margin by about 50–100 basis points per year, supported by mid‑ to high‑single‑digit revenue growth, although weaker results in Security and Collaboration or disruptions in the memory market could pose risks. In an upside scenario, he sees Cisco’s earnings exceeding $5.00 per share by fiscal 2027, with the combination of stronger networking performance and AI revenue potentially driving its valuation above 20 times earnings and taking the stock toward $100 per share over time. Never miss a stock rating. Find all the latest ratings on TipRanks’ Top Wall Street Analysts page.