Shares of Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CSCO) surged in early trading on Thursday, after the company reported upbeat third-quarter results on Wednesday.

Here are the key analyst insights:

  • BofA Securities analyst Tal Liani maintained a Buy rating, while raising the price target from $95 to $114.
  • Rosenblatt Securities analyst Mike Genovese reiterated a Buy rating, while lifting the price target from $100 to $150.

Check out other analyst stock ratings.

BofA Securities: Cisco Systems reported revenue growth of 12% year-on-year, topping Street expectations of 10% growth, driven by Networking growth of 25%, which was supported by both Cloud and non-Cloud strength, Liani said in a note. Growth in product orders excluding AI accelerated to 19% year-on-year, from 10% in the previous quarter, driven by price hikes as well as "Enterprise AI readiness and Campus strength," he added.

While guiding to fourth-quarter revenue growth of 14.5%, which is nearly twice the Street’s 7.8% growth expectations, management "soft guided" their fiscal 2027 outlook for revenue growth of around 8%, with AI revenues expanding from $4 billion to $6 billion, the analyst stated.

"Organic security growth is expected to recover to near-10% by next quarter, with Splunk expected to re-accelerate growth by 2Q27 once pricing transitions complete and comps become easier," he further wrote.

Rosenblatt Securities: Cisco Systems reported "strongly bullish" results, which served as a reminder of the company being a participant in the "AI industrial revolution," Genovese said. Service Provider and Cloud orders grew 105% year-on-year, while AI orders came in at $1.9 billion, bringing the year-to-date total to $5.3 billion, he added.

Management raised their AI order guidance from $5 billion to $9 billion, suggesting around $3.7 billion in the current quarter, the analyst stated. "Cisco also raised FY26 AI revenue recognition from Hyper Scalers to $4bn, from $3bn, and said it could see $6bn in FY27," he further wrote.

CSCO Price Action: Cisco Systems shares were up 15.16% at $117.31 at the time of publication on Thursday. The stock is trading at a new 52-week high, according to Benzinga Pro data.

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