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

SWITCHING GEARS, SLOWLY

** 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