Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins speaks on the Semafor World Economic system summit in Washington on April 15, 2026.
Alex Wong | Getty Pictures
Cisco shares soared 15% after the networking firm issued outcomes and steering that topped Wall Road’s projections on Wednesday after the bell.
The corporate stated it is chopping its workforce this quarter by fewer than 4,000 jobs, representing lower than 5% of whole workers.
This is how the corporate did compared with LSEG consensus:
- Earnings per share: $1.06 adjusted vs. $1.04 anticipated
- Income: $15.84 billion vs. $15.56 billion anticipated
Income elevated 12% within the quarter ended April 25, from $14.15 billion a 12 months earlier, Cisco stated in an announcement. Web earnings rose to $3.37 billion, or 85 cents per share, from $2.49 billion, or 62 cents per share, a 12 months earlier.
For the fiscal fourth quarter, Cisco known as for $1.16 to $1.18 in adjusted earnings per share on $16.7 billion to $16.9 billion in income. Analysts polled by LSEG have been searching for $1.07 in adjusted earnings per share on $15.82 billion in income.
Cisco stated it has acquired $5.3 billion in synthetic intelligence infrastructure and hyperscaler orders up to now this 12 months, and raised its anticipated orders for the fiscal 12 months to $9 billion, up from $5 billion. The corporate stated it expects fiscal-year income in that market of $4 billion, up from a previous projection of $3 billion.
Whereas Cisco has trailed a lot of its knowledge middle friends within the AI race, Wall Road has been rallying to the corporate’s story of late, pushing the inventory to a file late final 12 months, lastly surpassing its dot-com excessive. The shares have continued to climb this 12 months, gaining 33%, topping the Nasdaq’s 14% advance.
Ought to the inventory keep its after-hours positive factors by way of Thursday, it will mark the sharpest rally since 2002.
Cisco one-day inventory chart.
CEO Chuck Robbins wrote in a weblog publish on Wednesday that the newest spherical of job cuts will start on Could 14. Cisco is the newest firm to announce head depend reductions tied to AI.
“The businesses that may win within the AI period shall be these with focus, urgency, and the self-discipline to repeatedly shift funding towards the areas the place demand and long-term worth creation are strongest,” Robbins stated. “I am assured Cisco shall be a type of winners. This implies making laborious selections — about the place we make investments, how we’re organized, and the way our value construction displays the chance in entrance of us.”
Cisco stated in a submitting that severance and different prices will end in pre-tax prices of $1 billion, and that the corporate will acknowledge about $450 million of that within the fiscal fourth quarter.
In the course of the third quarter, Cisco introduced switches and routers that use its next-generation processor. The corporate additionally debuted a leaderboard for rating generative AI fashions based mostly on their robustness in opposition to cybersecurity assaults.
Cisco’s networking income elevated 25% to $8.82 billion, exceeding the $8.47 billion consensus amongst analysts polled by StreetAccount. Safety income was flat at about $2 billion, in comparison with StreetAccount’s $1.99 billion consensus.
Executives will focus on the outcomes with analysts on a convention name beginning at 4:30 p.m. ET.
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