Cisco shares climb on strong AI-fueled equipment demand

Core Viewpoint - Cisco Systems' shares increased nearly 6% following an upward revision of its annual profit and revenue forecast, driven by strong demand in the cloud sector [1] Group 1: Financial Performance - Cisco raised its fiscal 2026 revenue forecast to between $60.2 billion and $61 billion, up from the previous estimate of $59 billion to $60 billion [4] - The company has experienced a share price increase of almost 25% this year [1] Group 2: AI and Cloud Demand - Cisco secured over $2 billion in AI-related orders for fiscal 2025, primarily from hyperscalers, and anticipates $3 billion in AI infrastructure revenue for fiscal 2026 [2] - AI infrastructure orders from hyperscalers reached $1.3 billion in the quarter ending October 25 [2] - The company is witnessing a growing pipeline exceeding $2 billion for high-performance networking products across various customer segments [3] Group 3: Market Position and Valuation - Cisco's forward price-to-earnings ratio stands at 17.73, compared to Arista Networks' 40.90 and Dell Technologies' 12.83 [4]