Cisco (CSCO) Q1 2026 earnings report

Cisco reported better-than-expected profit and revenue for its fiscal first quarter on Wednesday. The stock rose greater than 7% in prolonged trading.

Here’s how the corporate did compared with consensus estimates from LSEG:

• Earnings per share: $1 adjusted vs. 98 cents expected

• Revenue: $14.88 billion vs. $14.77 billion expected

Revenue increased 8% from $13.84 billion in the identical period a yr earlier, Cisco said in a statement. Net income climbed to $2.86 billion, or 72 cents per share, from $2.71 billion, or 68 cents per share, a yr ago.

It is the fourth straight quarter of growth for Cisco following a stretch of 4 consecutive year-over-year revenue declines, as the corporate contended with economic uncertainty and delayed spending from government agencies.

Cisco’s networking business, its biggest unit, saw sales climb 15% to $7.77 billion. Analysts were expecting revenue for that segment of $7.47 billion, in response to StreetAccount.

A lot of the growth in data center spending is concentrated on artificial intelligence, as corporations bolster their investments in servers full of graphics processing units, primarily from Nvidia. Cisco is attempting to tie itself more closely to the AI boom, and last month introduced a brand new Ethernet switch based on Nvidia silicon.

Cisco said that AI infrastructure orders from “hyperscaler customers” reached $1.3 billion, “reflecting a major acceleration in growth.”

“Our relevance in AI continues to construct,” CFO Mark Patterson said within the press release. “We’ve a multi-year, multi-billion-dollar campus refresh opportunity beginning to ramp, with strong demand for our refreshed networking products.” 

For the fiscal second quarter, Cisco said it expects revenue of $15 billion to $15.2 billion, topping the $14.6 billion average estimate, in response to LSEG. Adjusted earnings will likely be $1.01 to $1.03 per share, exceeding the 99-cent average estimate.

Revenue for the total fiscal yr will likely be between $60.2 billion and $61 billion, with earnings per share of $4.08 to $4.14, Cisco said. Analysts expect sales of $59.7 billion and EPS of $4.04.

While networking is growing and performing higher than expected, Cisco’s other two major segments saw revenue declines and missed Wall Street’s expectations.

Sales in the corporate’s security unit fell 2% from a yr earlier to $1.98 billion, missing the common estimate of $2.16 billion, in response to StreetAccount. And collaboration sales slipped 3% to $1.06 billion, trailing the $1.09 billion average estimate.

Cisco shares are up 25% this yr as of Wednesday’s close, topping the 21% gain for the Nasdaq.

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