Cisco's revenue rose 24% as networking sales jumped, and it raised its yearly outlook
Cisco booked $18.5 billion in quarterly sales, led by a 43% rise in networking, and now expects $9 billion in AI infrastructure revenue from cloud giants this fiscal year.
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$18.5BCisco revenue, quarter ended October 24, 2026
What to know
- Cisco's fiscal first-quarter revenue rose 24% to $18.5 billion, and networking revenue rose 43%.
- Non-GAAP earnings were $1.40 a share, up from $1.00 a year earlier.
- Cisco raised its fiscal 2027 forecast to revenue of $74.8 billion to $75.8 billion.
Source: Cisco press release, November 12, 2026
Cisco said on Thursday that revenue for its fiscal first quarter, which ended October 24, rose 24% from a year earlier to $18.5 billion. The networking company raised its forecast for the full fiscal year and said it now expects AI infrastructure revenue from hyperscalers, the largest cloud operators, to reach $9 billion in fiscal 2027, more than double the fiscal 2026 total.
The quarter
Product revenue rose 32% to $14.67 billion, while services revenue rose 1% to $3.85 billion, according to Cisco's release. Networking did most of the work: that product line brought in $11.13 billion, up 43%. Security grew 7% to $2.12 billion, collaboration 8% to $1.14 billion, and observability 2% to $279 million.
Net income under standard accounting (GAAP) rose 59% to $4.55 billion, or $1.14 a diluted share, from $0.72 a year earlier. Excluding items such as stock compensation and acquisition costs, Cisco earned $1.40 a share, up from $1.00.
Faster growth came with thinner margins. Cisco's non-GAAP gross margin was 65.6%, down from 68.1% a year earlier, and its product gross margin fell to 63.7% from 67.2%.
Chief executive Chuck Robbins said in the release, "We are in the very early stages of a multi-year networking supercycle."
Against expectations
According to a roundup of after-hours tech earnings by the Substack newsletter Comprehensive Analysis, analysts had expected revenue of $18.12 billion and adjusted earnings of $1.29 a share, so Cisco beat on both. The same report said the shares rose modestly in after-hours trading. We did not find a closing price from a source we could read, so this story does not give one.
The outlook
For the fiscal second quarter, Cisco expects revenue of $18.0 billion to $18.2 billion and non-GAAP earnings of $1.34 to $1.36 a share, with a non-GAAP gross margin of 65% to 66%.
For the full fiscal year, Cisco now forecasts revenue of $74.8 billion to $75.8 billion and non-GAAP earnings of $5.47 to $5.53 a share. Its release says both figures were raised; it does not restate the earlier range.
Remaining performance obligations, contracted revenue not yet recognized, stood at $46.2 billion, up 8%. Cisco returned $3.7 billion to shareholders in the quarter: $2.0 billion in buybacks and the rest in dividends. It declared a quarterly dividend of 42 cents a share, payable January 20, 2027.
Why it matters
Cisco's results show the AI buildout spreading beyond chips to the switches and routers that connect data centers. Its hyperscaler forecast lands the same week as reports from AI cloud providers CoreWeave and Nebius, and days before Nvidia reports on November 17. The catch for investors is margin: the growth came almost entirely from products, while Cisco's gross margin fell more than two points from a year ago.
This article is general information. It is not investment advice, and trading involves the risk of losing money.
Sources
- Cisco Reports First Quarter Earnings, Cisco Newsroom, November 12, 2026
- Cisco Q1 earnings: revenue rises 24% to $18.5B, Stock Titan, November 12, 2026
- After-Hours Technology Earnings: Thursday, November 12, 2026, Comprehensive Analysis (Substack), November 13, 2026
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