Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO) earnings on August 12, 2026

After the market closes Q2 2026

More Cisco Systems, Inc. earnings

Prior outlook: Pessimistic Outcome: Accurate

The stock jumped early but gave up those gains and closed sharply lower after the earnings report. Investors seemed concerned about comments regarding AI's impact on cloud business trends.

CSCO price around the earnings

113.47

Change: -8.4%

2026-08-13, 20:00 UTC

Start of the measured window End of the measured window
111.77 118.59 125.41 132.23 123.88
Price series around the eventClosing price per minute from before the event to the end of the measured window.No trading (market closed)
August 12, 2026 August 13, 2026
  • Price: green if it ends above the starting price; red if it ends below
  • Start of the measured window
  • End of the measured window
  • Market open
  • No trading (market closed)
  • Starting price
Price series around the event

Prior thesis

Prior outlook: Pessimistic Outcome: Accurate

Thesis published
Results released

Cautious outlook, limited upside expected

Analysts expect modest earnings growth, backed by a strong recent record of beating estimates and the AI buzz. But the stock's recent rise has been small, and with many investors already on board, the scenario points pessimistic.

Context analyzed before publication

Summary
Cautious outlook, limited upside expected
Playbook
The stock has risen only 4% in two weeks, and its longer-term trend is weakening. Investor sentiment is very optimistic, which historically has sometimes led to a drop after earnings.
Trend
Expert confidence slipping as trend strength fades

Analysts

Drivers

  • Analysts Positive

    Analysts have a buy rating with a modest 7% upside to their average price target. One firm recently started coverage with an Overweight rating.

Evidence

Analyst consensus
Buy
Consensus average (1-5)
1.85
Analysts covering the stock
22
Average price target
132.59
Lowest price target
115
Highest price target
150
Upside to price target
7.3%
Quarterly earnings growth
35.4%
Revenue growth
12%
Forward EPS
4.8
Trailing EPS
3
Analyst moves in the last 60 days
1
  • Strong buy: 4
  • Buy: 13
  • Hold: 9
  • Sell: 0
  • Strong sell: 0
Strong buy
4
Buy
13
Hold
9
Sell
0
Strong sell
0
  • June 25, 2026 · Keybanc: Maintains rating (Overweight → Overweight)

News and sentiment

Drivers

  • News & sentiment Positive

    News links the company to the positive AI narrative, which could boost expectations and investor interest.

Evidence

Sentiment
Sentiment
Constructive
Mention volume
High
Normalized volume
99%
News
Sources (6)

Technicals

Drivers

  • Technical Neutral

    The stock has risen 4% in two weeks, but its 30-day trend is slightly negative, showing fading strength despite outperforming the broader market.

Evidence

Price when the context was analyzed
120.44
Average true range (ATR)
2.7%
Distance to 52-week high
-4.6%
14-day change (14d)
+4.2%
30-day change (32d)
-0.7%
30-day relative strength
+0.3%
QQQ change (32d)
-1.0%
Nearest support
119.97
Distance to nearest support
0.4%
Nearest resistance
120.76
Distance to nearest resistance
0.3%
Volume accumulation ratio (14d / 46d)
0.81
  • Minor: 119.97 (0.4% away, 0.14 ATR, 6 touches)
  • Mid: 119.19 (1% away, 0.38 ATR, 13 touches)
  • Mid: 118.3 (1.8% away, 0.65 ATR, 9 touches)
  • Minor: 120.76 (0.3% away, 0.1 ATR, 9 touches)
  • Mid: 121.5 (0.9% away, 0.32 ATR, 10 touches)
  • Minor: 122.07 (1.4% away, 0.49 ATR, 7 touches)

Trends

Evidence

Average earnings surprise
+1.8%
  • May 13, 2026: actual EPS 1.06 vs estimate 1.04 (surprise +2.3%)
  • February 11, 2026: actual EPS 1.04 vs estimate 1.02 (surprise +1.8%)
  • November 12, 2025: actual EPS 1 vs estimate 0.98 (surprise +1.8%)
  • August 13, 2025: actual EPS 0.99 vs estimate 0.98 (surprise +1.3%)

Expected move

Drivers

  • Past earnings Positive

    The company has beaten earnings expectations every quarter for the past year, though the average surprise is small at 1.8%.

Implied move
+7.9%
Source
Options chain

Reactions over its last 20 earnings

Median move
4.8%
75th percentile move
6.1%
90th percentile move
12.2%
Up / down moves
12 / 8
Average up move
+4.9%
Average down move
-6.3%

Monitoring and close

What Cisco Systems, Inc. reported

Status
Finished
Actual EPS1.22
EPS estimate1.17
EPS surprise+4.3%
Revenue$17,252 million
Revenue estimate$16,823 million
Revenue surprise+2.6%

Cisco beat Q4 expectations and gave an optimistic FY2027 outlook, driven by AI demand. Shares rose after the report.

Sources (11)

Pre-market second reading after the results

Verdict
Beat expectations

Heading into the open, results beat expectations on both earnings and revenue, and the price is indicating -6.5% pre-market, a move in line with the stock's usual reaction (about 5%). The figures confirm the pessimistic scenario. In the 749 similar cases in our market history, the close held that direction 96% of the time.

How the stock reacted

Outcome
Accurate
Consolidated
-8.4%
Max favorable move (MFE)
10%
Max adverse move (MAE)
7.5%