Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $85.54, but opened at $79.61. Cisco Systems shares last traded at $77.24, with a volume of 17,262,863 shares traded.

More Cisco Systems News

Here are the key news stories impacting Cisco Systems this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Cisco unveiled the Silicon One G300 switching chip designed for large AI cluster buildouts, positioning the company to compete in a multi‑hundred‑billion dollar AI infrastructure market — a clear long‑term growth catalyst. Silicon One G300 announcement
• Positive Sentiment: Q2 results beat both EPS and revenue expectations and management highlighted strong AI/customer orders (notably ~$2.1B of AI infrastructure orders), supporting revenue momentum and the firm’s raised FY guidance. That underpins upside if Cisco converts AI demand into sustained margin expansion. Zacks coverage
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple sell‑side firms raised price targets and reiterated buy/outperform views (examples: CICC raised its target to $96; UBS, Citi, BNP/Exane and others increased targets), which can support further upside via analyst-driven flows and ETF reweighting. CICC price target update
• Neutral Sentiment: Free cash flow fell year‑over‑year but remains positive with healthy margins; analysts note strong FCF long term despite higher capex for AI initiatives — this reduces downside risk but flags near‑term investment drag. TalkMarkets FCF piece
• Neutral Sentiment: MarketBeat and other bullish pieces argue for large long‑term upside (price‑target extrapolations to $150–$182), but these are speculative scenarios that rely on sustained AI share gains and margin recovery. MarketBeat long-term thesis
• Negative Sentiment: Investors punished Cisco after management disclosed gross‑margin pressure driven by a global memory shortage and higher component costs; that margin miss triggered a sharp selloff and created near‑term volatility risk for CSCO. CNBC margin story
• Negative Sentiment: Despite upbeat revenue/guidance, some analysts and market commentary viewed Cisco’s margin outlook and guidance as mixed, prompting sector weakness and headline risk that could keep short‑term selling pressure elevated. MarketWatch on market impact
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short‑interest data in the feed is inconsistent/zero and appears not to be a meaningful new factor for intraday moves. (Days‑to‑cover figures show no material change.)

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CSCO has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Cisco Systems from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. UBS Group raised their target price on Cisco Systems from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of Cisco Systems in a research note on Thursday. HSBC raised their price objective on Cisco Systems from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Cisco Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $97.19.

Cisco Systems Trading Up 2.5%

The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $303.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.87. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $77.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $73.07.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The network equipment provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.02. Cisco Systems had a net margin of 19.22% and a return on equity of 27.88%. The company had revenue of $15.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This is a boost from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 2nd. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.65%.

Insider Transactions at Cisco Systems

In other news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 281,860 shares of Cisco Systems stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.35, for a total transaction of $22,083,731.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 820,887 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,316,496.45. The trade was a 25.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Maria Victoria Wong sold 9,801 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.38, for a total transaction of $748,600.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 33,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,522,525.88. This trade represents a 22.89% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 507,122 shares of company stock valued at $39,545,816 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cisco Systems

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Smithfield Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 33,666 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $2,596,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Main Management ETF Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Main Management ETF Advisors LLC now owns 12,528 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $965,000 after buying an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Cairn Investment Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Cairn Investment Group Inc. now owns 24,146 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,860,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Juncture Wealth Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Juncture Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 15,042 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $1,159,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearwater Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Cisco Systems by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Clearwater Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,407 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock worth $417,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

About Cisco Systems

Cisco Systems, Inc is a global technology company that designs, manufactures and sells networking hardware, software and telecommunications equipment. Its core business focuses on enabling enterprise and service-provider networks through products such as routers, switches, network security appliances and wireless systems. Over time Cisco has broadened its portfolio to emphasize software-defined networking, cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure and edge computing solutions that help organizations build and manage modern IT environments.

In addition to hardware, Cisco offers a growing range of software platforms and subscription services for network management, security, analytics and collaboration.