Street View: Cisco gains ground in networking, AI still work in progress

Cisco Systems CSCO.O forecast Q1 revenue above Wall Street estimates on Wednesday, as AI boom boosted demand for its networking equipment from cloud customers

Communications equipment maker's shares down nearly 1% at $69.8 premarket

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Barclays ("equal weight", PT: $71) says while product upgrades may help, they're unlikely to drive major growth. AI orders and government-backed wins are promising, but Cisco still lags behind its peers in this area

J.P.Morgan ("overweight", PT: $80) expects Cisco's networking business to grow strongly, possibly even better than earlier forecasts, while growth in its security and observability segments may be slower than previously expected

Piper Sandler ("neutral", PT: $70) says Cisco's outlook remains strong, with revenue expected from AI-related orders, continued infrastructure upgrades and growing demand from enterprise and cloud customers

Morningstar (fair value: $61) expects Cisco's networking business to grow steadily over the next few years, marking a clear improvement from the slower growth seen recently. This shift is largely driven by rapid expansion in AI, which is becoming a bigger part of company's overall networking business