Cisco Revenue Jumps 24% to a Record $18.5 Billion, Its Fastest Growth in Over 15 Years, as It Doubles Its AI Target to $9 Billion

Finance
Written by Methodical Millions
Colourful editorial illustration of a glowing blue network switch tower with streams of cyan, violet and gold fibre-optic light flowing out to distant data centers, and a bright green arrow rising behind it

Cisco says it is in "the very early stages of a multi-year networking supercycle." The numbers back up the quarter. The stock's after-hours round trip shows how high the bar already is.

By Methodical Jon | Nov 12, 2026

Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) reported record fiscal first-quarter revenue of $18.5 billion USD on Thursday, November 12th 2026, up 24% from a year earlier, according to the company's earnings release. Cisco called it its strongest revenue and adjusted earnings growth in over 15 years. It also raised its full-year outlook and now expects $9 billion USD in AI infrastructure revenue from hyperscalers this fiscal year, more than double what it booked in fiscal 2026.

For a company many investors wrote off as a slow-growth dividend stock, that's a big statement.

What happened

The headline numbers for the quarter ended October 24th, from Cisco's release and CNBC, which compared them with LSEG estimates:

  • Revenue of $18.5 billion USD, up 24% from $14.88 billion USD, versus the $18.1 billion USD analysts expected.
  • Adjusted EPS of $1.40 USD, up 40%, versus $1.33 USD expected. GAAP EPS was $1.14 USD, up 58%.
  • Net income of $4.6 billion USD, up from $2.9 billion USD a year ago.
  • Product revenue up 32%, led by networking up 43%. Security grew 7%, collaboration 8% and observability 2%. Services revenue rose just 1%.
  • Double-digit growth in every region: the Americas up 28%, EMEA up 18% and Asia-Pacific, Japan and China up 21%.

The outlook beat too. Cisco guided fiscal Q2 revenue to $18.0 to $18.2 billion USD, above the $17.88 billion USD analysts expected, and adjusted EPS to $1.34 to $1.36 USD, versus a $1.23 USD estimate, per CNBC. For the full fiscal year, it now sees revenue of $74.8 to $75.8 billion USD and adjusted EPS of $5.47 to $5.53 USD. The AP's earnings snapshot, using Zacks estimates, also had Cisco beating on both lines.

"We are in the very early stages of a multi-year networking supercycle," CEO Chuck Robbins said in the release.

Context: the comeback trade

Cisco missed the first years of the generative AI boom, while Nvidia and Broadcom took the spotlight. Now the buildout has moved to the plumbing: the switches, routers and optics that connect thousands of chips inside AI data centers. That's Cisco's home turf, and the 43% jump in networking is the clearest sign yet that it is getting paid for it.

The market had already priced in a lot of that. CNBC noted the stock was up about 35% this year as of Thursday's close, versus about 9% for the Nasdaq. Shares jumped as much as about 8% in the first minutes of after-hours trading, then gave back most of that gain as the earnings call went on, based on Yahoo Finance data.

It also came on a messy day for tech. Nvidia's CEO Jensen Huang resigned on Thursday morning, and neocloud stocks like Nebius slid on spending worries.

Why it matters

Cisco sells to almost everyone: cloud giants, telecoms, governments and ordinary companies. When its revenue is growing double digits in every region, it says AI spending is spreading beyond a handful of hyperscalers and into the wider economy.

The fine print is worth reading too. Adjusted gross margin fell to 65.6% from 68.1% a year ago, so the faster growth is coming at slightly thinner margins on each sale. Cisco still grew profit much faster than revenue by keeping operating costs close to flat, which pushed its adjusted operating margin to a record 37.8%.

Shareholders are getting paid along the way. Cisco returned $3.7 billion USD in the quarter through buybacks and dividends, and declared a $0.42 USD quarterly dividend. It bought back about 18 million shares at an average price of $112.38 USD, above where the stock closed Thursday.

The money lesson

  1. Being late isn't the same as being out. Cisco wasn't first to AI, but it owned the part of the stack every AI cluster eventually needs. Positioning can matter more than timing.
  2. Know the bar before you buy. A record quarter and a raised outlook still met a fading stock. When a stock is up 35% in a year, "good" is often already in the price.
  3. Check margins, not just growth. Revenue up 24% with gross margin down two and a half points is a different story from revenue up 24% at the same margin. Read past the headline.

From the Methodical Millions archive

Showing up after the early movers is the whole theme of Episode 48 - Late to the Game. Cisco's quarter is a live case study of a company arriving late to a boom and still winning a big piece of it.

What to watch

  • Nvidia earnings on Nov. 17. The first report since Huang's exit will set the tone for every AI hardware stock, Cisco included.
  • Hyperscaler AI revenue. Watch whether Cisco keeps raising that $9 billion USD target as the year goes on.
  • Gross margin. Q2 guidance calls for 65% to 66% non-GAAP. Any further slip would be a red flag.
  • The next-day reaction. After-hours moves are thin. Friday's session is the real verdict.

At the time of writing (about 4:58 PM ET on Nov 12, 2026), Cisco shares were trading around $103.00 USD in after-hours trading, up about 1% from Thursday's $102.01 USD close, after briefly trading above $110 USD, based on Yahoo Finance data. This article is for informational purposes only and is not financial advice.

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This article may be AI-assisted and is subject to errors and omissions.

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