Cisco Systems Raises Outlook On Soaring 1Q Revenue, Profit

By Natalie Weger

Cisco Systems raised its outlook for the year after revenue and profit soared in its latest quarter, driven by high demand in the agentic artificial-intelligence market.

The networking-equipment company on Thursday posted a first-quarter profit of $4.55 billion, or $1.14 a share, compared with $2.86 billion, or 72 cents a share, the year earlier.

On an adjusted basis, per-share earnings were $1.40, topping the $1.33 a share analysts were expecting, according to FactSet.

Revenue climbed 24% to $18.52 billion, beating the $18.12 billion analysts polled by FactSet were expecting.

Product revenue rose 32% and services revenue increased 1%, with revenues up across all geographic segments. The company raised its 2027 expectation for AI infrastructure revenue from hyperscalers to $9 billion, more than double the total for 2026.

Chief Executive Chuck Robbins said that organizations are turning to Cisco to help them scale, secure and optimize their environments for use in the agentic AI era.

"We are in the very early stages of a multi-year networking supercycle, and we're confident in our ability to continue capturing the multi-billion-dollar opportunity it represents for Cisco," Robbins said.

The company now expects full-year revenue between $74.8 billion and $75.8 billion and full-year adjusted earnings per share between $5.47 and $5.53. The company previously forecasted revenue between $72.2 billion and $73.4 billion on adjusted earnings of between $5.05 and $5.11 a share.

For the current second quarter, Cisco guided for revenue from $18 billion to $18.2 billion and adjusted earnings of $1.34 and $1.36 a share. Analysts expect revenue of $17.85 billion and adjusted earnings of $1.23 a share.

Write to Natalie Weger at natalie.weger@wsj.com.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 12, 2026 16:57 ET (21:57 GMT)