Cisco Q4 2026 earnings beat sends stock lower after hours

Cisco Q4 2026 earnings beat sends stock lower after hours

Thu, August 13, 2026 at 2:09 PM GMT+3 2 min read

• CSCO -1.58%

Cisco reported fourth-quarter revenue of $17.25 billion on Wednesday, beating analyst expectations and posting record annual results, but Cisco stock fell in after-hours trading.

The quarter's adjusted earnings per share of $1.22 topped the consensus estimate of $1.17, while revenue of $17.25 billion exceeded the $16.82 billion Wall Street had anticipated, according to CNBC.

Revenue grew 18% compared with $14.7 billion in the same period last year, and GAAP net income jumped 51% to $3.9 billion, or 97 cents per share. For the full fiscal year 2026, revenue reached $63.3 billion, up 12%, with GAAP net income of $13.3 billion.

A standout of the quarter was AI-related demand from hyperscalers — the major cloud and internet platforms fueling infrastructure buildouts. That cohort placed $4 billion in orders during the fourth quarter alone, pushing their fiscal year 2026 total to $9.3 billion, the company said. Those customers generated about $4 billion in revenue for Cisco in fiscal 2026, a figure the company projects will climb to $7.5 billion by fiscal 2027.

Total product orders rose 35% year over year in the quarter, with networking product orders up 40%, marking the eighth straight quarter of double-digit growth in that category, the company said.

"We delivered a very strong close to fiscal 2026, marking another record year for Cisco," said Chuck Robbins, chair and CEO of Cisco, in a statement. "With the breadth and depth of our portfolio and our competitive differentiation in secure networking, Cisco is well positioned to support our customers however or wherever they decide to deploy AI."

Guidance for the current quarter and full fiscal year came in well above analyst estimates. For the fiscal first quarter of 2027, Cisco put its revenue target at $18 billion to $18.2 billion, well ahead of the $16.8 billion analysts had penciled in, according to Benzinga. The company also forecast adjusted EPS of $1.32 to $1.34 for the period, surpassing the $1.16 consensus.

Looking further out, Cisco set its full-year fiscal 2027 revenue outlook at $72.2 billion to $73.4 billion, with full-year adjusted EPS expected to land between $5.05 and $5.11, the company said.

Cisco also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share, payable October 21, 2026, to stockholders of record as of October 2, 2026. During the quarter, the company returned $3.2 billion to stockholders through share buybacks and dividends.

Cash flow from operations was $5.4 billion for the quarter, up 27% year over year. The company ended the period with $15.9 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and investments.