Cisco Systems
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Cisco Systems, Inc., doing business as Cisco, is an American multinational technology conglomerate corporation that develops, manufactures, and sells hardware, software, telecommunications equipment, and other high-technology services and products focused on networking, cybersecurity and AI.
From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0, revision of 27 Oct 2026.
What stands out
- Sales have grown about 4.9% a year for five years, so each $1 of sales in FY2021 is about $1.27 now.Revenue growth over 5–10 years: +4.9% a year
- Cisco Systems kept about 24 cents of operating profit from each $1 of sales in FY2026.Operating margin (operating income ÷ revenue): 24.3%
- For every $1 of reported profit over 5 years, about $1.17 turned up as spare cash.Free cash flow (operating cash flow − capex), and FCF ÷ net income: $12.8B
From filed figures and the weekly screener snapshot, 30 Oct 2026. Observations to check in the tabs below, not advice.
What has the price done?
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Press and drag across the chart to see the change between two points. Source: Yahoo Finance, delayed. Bars are daily and prices are adjusted for splits, not dividends. Past returns don't predict future returns.
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How does it make money?
What it does is in the oven
We haven't typed up Cisco Systems's business and region split yet. Every figure comes from the company's own results, so this takes a little time.
See companies we've covered ›History and context
Cisco Systems, Inc., doing business as Cisco, is an American multinational technology conglomerate corporation that develops, manufactures, and sells hardware, software, telecommunications equipment, and other high-technology services and products focused on networking, cybersecurity and AI. Cisco specializes in specific tech markets, such as the Internet of things (IoT), domain security, videoconferencing, and energy management, including products such as Webex, OpenDNS, Jabber, and Jasper. The company is headquartered in San Jose, California, and, as of June 29, 2026, has a market capitalization of $461 billion.
Cisco Systems was founded in December 1984 by Leonard Bosack and Sandy Lerner, two Stanford University computer scientists. They pioneered the concept of a local area network (LAN) being used to connect distant computers over a multiprotocol router system. The company went public in 1990 and, by the end of the dot-com bubble in 2000, had a market capitalization of $500 billion, surpassing Microsoft as the world's most valuable company, prior to losing 80 percent of its value by 2002, as the market bubble burst.
From Wikipedia's article Cisco, the lead section as of the revision of 27 Oct 2026, retrieved 1 Nov 2026. Text under CC BY-SA 4.0, pronunciation guides removed. Wikipedia can be edited by anyone; the company's own filings are the primary source.
What it actually sells Soon
A product-by-product guide to Cisco Systems: what each one is, who buys it, and how much it brings in, in plain English and in the company's own terms. We're starting with the companies that are hardest to picture, like Broadcom.
Moat not rated yet
We haven't rated Cisco Systems's moat. A rating needs at least five years of returns against the cost of capital, plus evidence for each of the five lenses.
How we rate moats ›Is it a good business at a fair price?
What each method implies
Ranges, not targetsThe five questions, and the price
Six checks from the annual reports. A flag marks a reason to dig deeper, not a verdict.
- 1. Is it growing?Within the guide
+4.9% a year
Revenue growth over 5–10 years
Revenue $49.8B in FY2021 to $63.3B in FY2026; +2.5% a year over 10 years. It fell in 1 of the last 5 years.
Sales have grown about 4.9% a year for five years, so each $1 of sales in FY2021 is about $1.27 now.
What to look for Steady growth, not one lucky year.
Source: FY2021 10-K, filed 9 Sep 2021; FY2026 10-K, filed 2 Sep 2026.
- 2. Is it profitable?Within the guide
24.3%
Operating margin (operating income ÷ revenue)
FY2026 operating margin. 5-year average 24.2%, range 20.8% to 27.1%.
Cisco Systems kept about 24 cents of operating profit from each $1 of sales in FY2026.
What to look for Stable or rising. It's cleaner than net income, which one-off items and tax can distort.
Source: FY2026 10-K, filed 2 Sep 2026.
- 3. Is the profit real cash?Within the guide
$12.8B
Free cash flow (operating cash flow − capex), and FCF ÷ net income
FY2026 free cash flow: operating cash flow $14.2B less capex $1.4B. Over 5 years FCF was 117% of net income.
For every $1 of reported profit over 5 years, about $1.17 turned up as spare cash.
What to look for FCF positive and growing, and close to net income over time.
Source: FY2026 10-K, filed 2 Sep 2026.
- 4. Is it a good business?Within the guide
22.4% ROIC
Return on invested capital (ROIC); ROE for banks
FY2026 ROIC. 5-year average 33.2%; above 10% in 5 of 5 years. ROIC here is our calculation from the 10-K figures: operating income after tax (at the year's effective rate, or 21% where that rate is meaningless) over shareholders' equity plus borrowings less cash and short-term investments at the start of the year. Leases are left out.
Each $1 tied up in the business has earned about 33 cents a year after tax.
What to look for Clearly above the cost of capital (roughly 8–10%). Sustained 15%+ usually means a moat.
Source: FY2026 10-K, filed 2 Sep 2026.
- 5. Can it survive a bad year?Within the guide
0.7x FCF
Net debt ÷ EBITDA or ÷ FCF, plus interest cover
FY2026 year end: borrowings $22.9B, cash and short-term investments $14.3B, net debt $8.6B, 0.5x EBITDA. Operating income covers interest 10.5x.
At last year's pace, Cisco Systems's spare cash would pay off its net debt in about 0.7 years.
What to look for Debt payable from about 3 years of FCF or less, interest covered many times.
Source: FY2026 10-K, filed 2 Sep 2026.
- 6. Is the price right?
3.1% FCF yield
FCF yield or EV/EBIT, and price against a cash-flow value
Market cap $412.0B. FCF yield 3.1% on FY2026 free cash flow. EV/EBIT 27.4x on FY2026 operating income.
At this price, each $100 of shares comes with about $3.10 of last year's spare cash.
What to look for Pay less than a cash-flow value estimate, with a margin of safety.
Source: Price $104.51, Yahoo Finance weekly snapshot, 30 Oct 2026; 3,943M shares, 10-K 27 Aug 2026; FY2026 10-K, filed 2 Sep 2026.
US figures: each company's Form 10-K as tagged on SEC EDGAR, collected 19 Oct 2026. Free cash flow is operating cash flow less purchases of property and equipment. Borrowings exclude leases. For education only. Not financial advice.
Ten years of financials
FY2017 to FY2026, in US dollars.
Source: Cisco Systems, Form 10-K for each year as first filed, via SEC EDGAR XBRL. Latest: FY2026 10-K, filed 2 Sep 2026. Later restatements aren't applied.
How peers compare
Information technology names we coverA sector is a loose fit — these are simply the information technology names whose filings we've loaded, not a hand-picked set.
| Company | Revenue growth, 5y | Operating margin | P/E | EV/EBITDA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CSCO | +4.9% a year | 24.3% | 31.4x | 26.5x |
| NVDA | +66.9% a year | 60.4% | 41.8x | 37.0x |
| AAPL | +8.7% a year | 32.0% | 46.2x | 36.0x |
| MSFT | +14.6% a year | 46.8% | 29.1x | — |
| AVGO | +21.7% a year | 39.9% | 68.4x | — |
| PLTR | +32.6% a year | 31.6% | 292.2x | 323.1x |
- Peers' middle-half P/E
- 41.8x–68.4x (median 46.2x, 5 peers)
- Peers' middle-half EV/EBITDA
- 36.5x–180.0x (median 37.0x, 3 peers)
At the peers' middle-half P/E, Cisco Systems's earnings per share from the FY2026 10-K would put the share between $139 and $228. At the peers' middle-half EV/EBITDA, Cisco Systems's EBITDA and net debt from the FY2026 10-K would put the share between $145 and $723. Those are the peer bars in the valuation chart above — one way to read the price, not a target.
Prices: weekly screener snapshot, 30 Oct 2026. Profits: each company's latest annual filing via SEC EDGAR, as filed. Peers are same-sector names we cover, which is a looser fit. A multiple compares one year's profit with today's price; it says nothing about what either does next.
Not in Stock valuation yet
Stock valuation doesn't have Cisco Systems's figures yet. You can still type them in: pick "Value your own company" and fill in the inputs from the latest results.
Value your own company ›Who owns it, and what's the mood?
Tracked investors and insiders
Trades in Cisco Systems by the people we follow: Warren Buffett and Michael Burry (13F), Grab's officers (Form 4) and Nancy Pelosi (House reports). They show what happened, often weeks later, not what to copy.
None of the people we follow has reported a trade in Cisco Systems in the filings we track.
Sources: SEC EDGAR 13F-HR and Form 4 filings, and the US House Clerk's Periodic Transaction Reports, checked 30 Oct 2026. 13F values are the quarter-end value, not the price paid. All tracked trades ›
- Largest shareholdersSoonThe biggest holders from 13F filings and the annual proxy statement.—
- Chief executive and board holdingsSoonShares held by the CEO and directors, from the proxy statement and Form 4s.—
- Short interestSoonHow many shares are sold short, from exchange short-interest reports.—
Crowd favourite or value trap?
Neither is a label we can put on a stock. These are signs worth looking into, each from a figure on this page.
Signs of a crowd-driven price
Meme stocks move on attention more than on results: big swings, a price far from cash-flow value, thin profits.
0 of 3 signs (1 without data)
- NoSwings at least twice as much as the marketBeta 1.02, 5 years of monthly returns
- NoUp more than 100%, or down more than 50%, in a year1-year price change +45.60%
- —Price more than 50% above the valuation sheet's middle valueNot in Stock valuation yet
- NoThin profits: operating margin under 5%, or a lossFY2026 operating margin 24.3%
Signs of a value trap
A value trap looks cheap because the business is shrinking or earning less than its capital costs.
0 of 4 signs
- NoLooks cheap: P/E under 12 or FCF yield over 8%P/E 31.4x, FCF yield 3.1%
- NoRevenue lower than five years agoRevenue +4.9% a year over 5 years
- NoReturns below the cost of capital5-year average ROIC 33.2% against 10.0%
- NoMore than 30% below its 52-week high−19.8% from the 52-week high
Prices, beta and 1-year change: Yahoo Finance weekly snapshot, 30 Oct 2026. Business figures: the five questions under Valuation and financials. A sign is a reason to dig deeper, not a verdict. For education only. Not financial advice.
Read it through a lens
Price data: Yahoo Finance, delayed. Company figures: each company's own filings, dated where they appear. A ticker on this site is not a recommendation. For education only. Not financial advice.