Cisco rallies after beat-and-raise quarterly update

Shares of Cisco Systems Inc CSCO.O rose 6.4% after it raised its annual results forecast, betting on steady demand from cloud customers for its networking equipment, driven by the artificial intelligence boom

Stock hits highest level since late Feb, on track for biggest one-day pct gain since April 9, when US President announced 90-day pause for reciprocal tariffs against many countries

CSCO, a communications equipment maker, said finance chief Scott Herren to retire in July; to be replaced by Mark Patterson, current chief strategy officer

For fiscal Q3 CSCO EPS of 96 cents vs Street consensus of 92 cents, and revenue of $14.15 bln vs expectation for $14.08 bln, according to data compiled by LSEG

Co now sees FY revenue between $56.5 billion and $56.7 billion, up from its prior forecast of $56 billion to $56.5 billion, and vs analyst view of $56.47 billion

Following the report multiple brokerages raised their PTs with JPMorgan raising PT $3 to $73, Wells Fargo raising to $75 from $72, Morgan Stanley raising to $67 from $65 and Barclays raising to $66 from $61

Last traded at $65.18, stock up ~10% YTD vs ~0.8% drop for S&P 500 technology sector index .SPLRCT