Cisco Rides on AI: Can the Stock Stay Secure in the AI Threat Era?

Cisco Systems CSCO is gaining momentum in AI infrastructure, with third-quarter fiscal 2025 AI infrastructure orders surpassing $600 million amid strong traction from webscale clients. Year to date, orders have exceeded the company’s original $1-billion target. Cisco attributes this accelerated growth to the strength of its secure networking portfolio, trusted partner base and the value it delivers to customers at the forefront of digital transformation.

The growing deployment of AI has not only brought unprecedented opportunities but also a new wave of security challenges. Cisco’s AI Defense, a first-of-its-kind platform that provides full visibility into AI use across the enterprise, verifies model integrity and enforces security guardrails continuously. The latest Duo Identity and Access Management is designed to help security teams counter the growing tide of identity-related attacks intensified by AI automation.

Cisco has partnered with NVIDIA to launch Secure AI Factories, a joint solution to protect AI systems at every layer. It also unveiled a partnership with ServiceNow, embedding AI Defense into their platform to centralize AI risk management, compliance and governance.

HPE & ANET Challenge Cisco in AI Networking

Hewlett-Packard Enterprise HPE and Arista Networks ANET are two rising challengers to Cisco in the fast-evolving networking and AI infrastructure landscape.

Hewlett-Packard is rapidly expanding in AI-driven edge and cloud infrastructure, with second-quarter fiscal 2025 revenues reaching $7.6 billion, boosted by $1 billion in AI server sales and a $3.2-billion backlog. Hewlett-Packard’s Aruba and Silver Peak platforms are gaining share in secure, cloud-managed networking, challenging Cisco.

Meanwhile, Arista Networks posted $2 billion in revenues in the first quarter of 2025, driven by demand from hyperscalers like Microsoft and Meta Platforms. Arista Networks’ EOS software and Etherlink AI platforms offer agile, cost-effective networking, while its SWAG and Wi-Fi 7 solutions are gaining traction in enterprise environments. Arista Networks is aggressively targeting $750 million in campus networking revenues by year-end, posing a real threat to Cisco.

CSCO’s Price Performance, Valuation & Estimates

Shares of Cisco have gained 11.6% year to date compared with the Zacks Computer – Networking industry’s return of 11.3%.

CSCO YTD Price Performance Chart

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

From a valuation standpoint, CSCO appears overvalued, trading at a forward 12-month price-to-sales ratio of 4.45, higher than the industry’s 4.24X. Cisco has a Value Score of D.

CSCO's Forward 12-Month Valuation Chart

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CSCO’s fiscal 2025 revenues is pegged at $56.59 billion, indicating 5.18% year-over-year growth. The consensus mark for CSCO’s 2025 earnings is pegged at $3.79 per share, which increased 1.6% over the past 30 days. The earnings figure suggests 1.61% growth over the figure reported in fiscal 2024.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

CSCO currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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