Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CSCO, XETRA:CIS) reported fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of $17.3 billion, up 18% year-over-year and above the $16.82 billion analyst estimate, as networking demand and artificial intelligence orders drove growth.
Non-GAAP earnings per share came in at $1.22, up 23% year-over-year and ahead of the $1.17 estimate.
Adjusted operating margin was 35.9%, with adjusted operating income of $6.2 billion, topping the $5.85 billion forecast.
Networking revenue grew 28% year-over-year, according to Bank of America, underpinning the quarter's strength. Total product order growth held at 35% year-over-year, matching the prior quarter despite a tougher comparison.
Analysts at Bank of America noted orders from Cisco's top four hyperscaler customers grew more than 100%, while orders excluding hyperscalers improved to 25% year-over-year from 19% in the third quarter, pointing to broadening demand across cloud and non-cloud customers.
For fiscal 2026, AI-related orders reached about $9 billion with $4 billion in revenue, in line with prior guidance. Looking to fiscal 2027, Cisco doubled its core revenue growth guidance to 10% from a preliminary 5% and raised its AI revenue target to $7.5 billion from $6 billion.
Cisco guided fiscal 2027 revenue to a range of $72.2 billion to $73.4 billion, above the $68.69 billion estimate, with adjusted earnings per share of $5.05 to $5.11 versus the $4.80 estimate.
For the first quarter, the company guided revenue of $18 billion to $18.2 billion, well above the $16.8 billion estimate, with adjusted earnings per share of $1.32 to $1.34. The company guided adjusted gross margin of 65% to 66% and adjusted operating margin of 35.5% to 36.5% for the quarter.
Gross margin held at 66% in the fourth quarter, supported by price increases and productivity gains, according to Bank of America. The firm expects gross margin to step down to roughly 64.5% in fiscal 2027, about 150 basis points below Street estimates, reflecting strong hardware growth and a higher cloud mix.
Bank of America flagged Cisco's calendar 2027 EV/FCF multiple of about 25 times as above its five-year historical average of 16 times, though it said durable demand in the campus and AI cycle should support further order growth and revenue acceleration.
Shares of Cisco fell more than 7% Thursday morning.