What investors are saying about Cisco Systems (CSCO)

Summary

In the past 30 days, 7 people on 6 investor and market shows discussed Cisco Systems (CSCO) in 8 views. Going by each speaker's latest call, 6 are bullish and 1 is bearish. Chorus has followed Cisco Systems since November 4, 2026.

Who talks about it most

• Mike Volpi · 2
• Jim Lebenthal · 1
• Joe Terranova · 1
• Steve Eisman · 1
• Jim Cramer · 1
• Jason Ware · 1
• Amit Daryanani · 1

The latest views

Newest first. Every quote is checked against the episode's transcript.

• Joe Terranova · Virtus Investment PartnersBullish

  Strong AI networking demand should lift Cisco, and its price is near an attractive valuation.

  Joe says the past conservative guidance was the company's problem and that the stock peaked in June with the parabolic AI names. He still expects strong AI-driven demand for networking gear, which is the mechanism. He adds that the stock is near a valuation and price level he finds attractive ahead of earnings.

  “I still think you're gonna see strong demand here on the AI side for networking, and I think the stock is close to a valuation and a price level that I think is attractive.”at 43:28

  CNBC Halftime Report: AI Relief Rally, Nvidia Governance and CoreWeave Earnings · November 11, 2026

• Jim Lebenthal · Cerity PartnersBullish

  Cisco's valuation reset after a rerating leaves significant upside, despite conservative guidance.

  Jim says Cisco is a conservative company that has performed steadily for about twelve years, and he expects that to continue. He argues the stock has been rerated and now trades around 18 times forward earnings. Because that multiple has already reset, he sees significant room to the upside.

  “I expect that they will. And in terms of the valuation reset, it's now at about 18 times forward. So there is... There's been a lot of rerating here, and I think it leaves room to the upside, significant room.”at 43:55

  CNBC Halftime Report: AI Relief Rally, Nvidia Governance and CoreWeave Earnings · November 11, 2026

• Mike Volpi · Hanabi CapitalNeutral

  Cisco's high-frequency acquisition strategy worked; acquisitions became about half of revenue by 2000.

  Mike says Cisco's team did about 70 acquisitions while he was there, and they ended up producing about half the company's revenue, which was roughly $15 billion of a $30 billion base. Cisco accepted that deals would split into a third that worked well, a third that were average and a third that failed. It made enough deals to get a few outliers, such as deals that were venture-like returns. Most deals were cheap, typically 4 to 5 percent of market cap, and were paid for in equity. Open networking protocols let Cisco integrate acquired products quickly.

  “we were not afraid to fail, and we did it with high enough frequency that we got a few outliers”at 15:31

  a16z Podcast: What the Internet Boom Teaches Us About the AI Buildout | Mike Volpi · November 11, 2026

• Mike Volpi · Hanabi CapitalBearish

  Incumbent networking vendors like Cisco can't charge premium prices if the data center workload stops changing.

  Volpi argues that switches are expensive because they handle complicated, statistically multiplexed traffic: packets arrive unpredictably, must be buffered, looked up, and sent out. In a more static AI data center, where links are fully utilized and traffic is predictable, much of that intelligence and buffering is unnecessary. As a result, the incumbent vendors, including his former employer Cisco, face a bad outcome because they can't charge a lot for products that don't change. He calls it a classic innovator's dilemma: incumbents won't pursue the change, but a newcomer could build something far cheaper.

  “Networking vendors, including my former employer, this is bad news, because when things don't change, you can't charge a lot of money for them.”at 50:01

  a16z Podcast: What the Internet Boom Teaches Us About the AI Buildout | Mike Volpi · November 11, 2026

• Steve Eisman · The Real Eisman PlaybookBullish

  Cisco is a preferred picks-and-shovels play, supplying networking for the AI buildout.

  Eisman favors infrastructure suppliers that do not need to predict which LLM wins. Cisco, alongside Arista, supplies the networking needed for the AI buildout.

  “Arista and Cisco supplying networking,”at 42:56

  The Real Eisman Playbook: Big Short Investor Explains How the AI Bubble Could Burst · November 9, 2026

• Jim Cramer · CNBCBullish

  Cisco is oversold after its AI-driven selloff, and CEO Chuck Robbins should deliver, so the stock is cheap.

  Cisco reported strong AI orders earlier in the year, but its stock was dragged down in the broader AI selloff and has fallen back to the 90s. Cramer believes the stock has become oversold and that CEO Chuck Robbins will deliver, so the shares look cheap. He says it might be worth buying some after the upcoming earnings report if the Core Weave and Nebius reports go well.

  “The stock has been caught up in the incredible tsunami of AI selling. It's fallen all way back to the ninety's. Now I think Cisco has gotten oversold. I think Chuck Robbins is gonna deliver. I think his stock's actually cheap.”at 6:29

  Mad Money with Jim Cramer: Mad Money w/ Jim Cramer 11/6/26 · November 7, 2026

• Jason Ware · Albion Financial GroupBullish

  Cisco is oversold and undergoing an incredible refresh supplying data center components.

  Ware counts Cisco among the oversold bottleneck names that offer entry points. He argues it is doing an incredible refresh of the components needed to build data centers. He picks it on the same quality and valuation-margin-of-safety basis as the rest of his list.

  “...old Cisco is doing an incredible refresh in terms of providing the components necessary to build data centers.”at 40:44

  CNBC Power Lunch: Power Lunch: Tech Sell-Off, AI Repricing and Washington Shakeup · November 6, 2026

• Amit Daryanani · Evercore ISIBullish

  Cisco benefits as AI networks must be upgraded for efficiency when greenfield capacity is harder to add.

  Daryanani argued efficiency becomes more valuable as adding new greenfield data center capacity gets harder. Operators will have to upgrade their networks as a result, and he said a company like Cisco will do really well from that upgrade cycle, alongside Arista.

  “to the extent you have to upgrade your network, a company like Arista and Cisco do really well.”at 27:05

  CNBC Closing Bell: Closing Bell Overtime: Stocks Surge After Democrats Retake Both Chambers of Congress 11/4/26 · November 4, 2026