Cisco Systems Rockets as AI Boom Rewrites Its Future

Cisco Systems ( (CSCO) ) has risen by 19.74%. Read on to learn why.

Cisco Systems shares have soared 19.74% over the past week as investors piled into the networking giant following one of its strongest quarters in years and a major reset in expectations around artificial intelligence. The stock’s surge was triggered by fiscal third-quarter results that easily beat Wall Street forecasts, with revenue rising nearly 12% year-on-year to about $15.8 billion and earnings edging past estimates. Crucially, Cisco raised its full-year outlook and guided to roughly 15% revenue growth in the coming quarter, convincing many that the company is evolving into a sustainable double‑digit growth story.

Behind the rally is a powerful wave of AI‑driven demand. Cisco reported AI infrastructure orders of $1.9 billion in the latest quarter and $5.3 billion year‑to‑date, prompting management to hike its fiscal 2026 AI order target to $9 billion from $5 billion and lift expected hyperscaler AI revenue to $4 billion, with a path toward $6 billion in 2027. Networking revenue jumped 25% as hyperscalers and enterprises upgraded data centers and campus networks to handle AI workloads, while service provider and cloud orders more than doubled. Analysts see AI becoming a structural growth engine, supported by hyperscale data‑center build‑outs and ongoing enterprise network modernization.

Wall Street’s reaction has been swift and largely positive, underpinning the stock’s near‑term momentum. Top‑ranked analysts at Rosenblatt, BofA, HSBC, Piper Sandler and Barclays all raised their price targets, with Rosenblatt setting a Street‑high $150 target and calling Cisco a clear double‑digit grower, even as some warn that AI‑heavy sales could pressure margins. Cisco did announce a restructuring that includes cutting nearly 4,000 jobs to shift more resources toward AI, silicon, optics and security, but investors appear comfortable with this as a strategic reinvestment. The stock now carries a Moderate to Strong Buy consensus, with average targets still implying further upside, keeping Cisco Systems firmly on the radar of growth‑oriented investors.