Cisco Earnings Beat and AI Order Surge Drive 17% After-Hours Rally
CNBC reported Wednesday that Cisco shares jumped 17% in extended trading after the networking giant delivered a third-quarter earnings and revenue beat. The company also dramatically raised its Cisco AI orders forecast for the full fiscal year, catching Wall Street firmly off guard.
Earnings Beat Wall Street on Every Metric
Cisco posted adjusted earnings per share of $1.06, ahead of the $1.04 consensus. Revenue came in at $15.84 billion, topping the $15.56 billion analysts had expected. Net income climbed to $3.37 billion from $2.49 billion one year prior. Networking revenue rose 25% year-over-year to $8.82 billion. Security revenue held steady near $2 billion for the quarter.
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AI Orders Redefine Cisco’s Growth Story
The company disclosed $5.3 billion in AI infrastructure and hyperscaler orders so far this fiscal year. That figure prompted management to raise its full-year AI order target to $9 billion, up sharply from a prior $5 billion projection. Expected fiscal-year AI revenue was revised upward to $4 billion from $3 billion. CEO Chuck Robbins wrote in a blog post that companies winning in the AI era must show focus and investment discipline. “This means making hard decisions about where we invest, how we’re organized, and how our cost structure reflects the opportunity in front of us,” Robbins said, according to CNBC.
A Long Road Back From the Dot-Com Peak
Cisco was once the world’s most valuable company at the peak of the dot-com boom. Its stock spent more than two decades below those highs before finally breaking through late last year. Shares have now gained 33% in 2026, well ahead of the Nasdaq’s 14% advance over the same period. If Wednesday’s after-hours gains hold through Thursday’s session, it would mark the company’s strongest single-day rally since 2002.
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Job Cuts and Fourth-Quarter Guidance Raise the Bar
Cisco confirmed it will cut nearly 4,000 positions this quarter, representing fewer than 5% of its total workforce. Restructuring charges will reach approximately $1 billion in pre-tax costs. Around $450 million of that is expected to land in the fiscal fourth quarter. For Q4, Cisco guided for $1.16 to $1.18 in adjusted EPS on revenue of $16.7 billion to $16.9 billion. Analysts had forecast only $1.07 in EPS on $15.82 billion in revenue. During the quarter, Cisco also unveiled new switches and routers powered by its next-generation processor.
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