Cisco closes fiscal 2026 with $17.3 billion quarter and guides fiscal 2027 revenue far above Wall Street

by Henry Nakamura · August 12, 2026

Earnings Reporter, Earnings Dispatch

Cisco reported fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of $17.3 billion after Wednesday's close, up 18% from a year earlier, and non-GAAP earnings of $1.22 a share, up 23%. According to the company's earnings release, GAAP earnings were $0.97 a share, a 52% increase. Analysts polled ahead of the report had modelled $1.17 in adjusted earnings on about $16.82 billion of revenue, per AlphaStreet's preview and TipRanks, so the quarter cleared the bar on both lines.

The mix explains most of the upside. Product revenue reached $13.5 billion, up 24%, while services revenue of $3.8 billion was flat. Networking product revenue grew 28% and security grew 14%. That security figure is the one that stands out: Zacks estimates compiled before the print, published on Yahoo Finance, had the security line growing about 4.7% and collaboration roughly flat, versus the 12% collaboration growth Cisco actually delivered. Observability rose 6%, close to the 6.9% analysts expected.

Orders ran ahead of revenue. Total product orders rose 35% year over year and were still up 25% excluding hyperscale customers, according to the release. Networking orders climbed 40%, which the company described as an eighth consecutive quarter of double-digit growth. Remaining performance obligations closed the year at $46.7 billion, up 7%, split almost evenly between $23.4 billion of product RPO and $23.3 billion of services RPO.

The AI number was the headline metric going in. Cisco booked $4 billion of AI infrastructure orders in the quarter and $9.3 billion for the full fiscal year, clearing the $9 billion target the company had raised to during fiscal 2026. The Motley Fool reported on Aug. 7 that Cisco had originally set a $1 billion AI order goal for fiscal 2025 and delivered roughly $2 billion, then lifted the fiscal 2026 bar repeatedly as hyperscale demand built. Of the $9.3 billion booked, about $4 billion converted to revenue in fiscal 2026, with roughly $7.5 billion of AI infrastructure revenue expected in fiscal 2027.

For the full fiscal year, revenue was $63.3 billion, up 12%, with GAAP earnings of $3.33 a share and non-GAAP earnings of $4.33. That tops the $62.8 billion to $63.0 billion revenue range Cisco had been guiding to, as summarised in the same Motley Fool account. Non-GAAP operating margin for the year was 34.8%; operating cash flow was $14.2 billion, flat against fiscal 2025. Non-GAAP gross margin in the quarter was 66.3%.

Guidance did the real work. Cisco set fiscal 2027 revenue at $72.2 billion to $73.4 billion and non-GAAP earnings at $5.05 to $5.11 a share. Reuters coverage carried by MarketScreener put the LSEG analyst consensus for fiscal 2027 revenue at $68.69 billion, meaning the low end of the company's range sits more than $3 billion above where the street was. For the current quarter, Cisco guided to $18.0 billion to $18.2 billion of revenue and non-GAAP earnings of $1.32 to $1.34 a share.

Chief executive Chuck Robbins said in the release that the quarter marked "a very strong close to fiscal 2026" and "another record year," adding that Cisco is "well positioned to support our customers however or wherever they decide to deploy AI." Chief financial officer Mark Patterson said the company delivered "record revenue, non-GAAP operating income and EPS, all exceeding the high end of our guidance ranges," and that fiscal 2026 produced Cisco's highest productivity metrics in 30 years measured by revenue, non-GAAP operating margin and earnings per employee.

On capital returns, Cisco declared a quarterly dividend of $0.42 a share payable Oct. 21 and repurchased about 13 million shares in the quarter at an average price of $111.53, roughly $1.5 billion, leaving $8.1 billion of authorisation outstanding.

The setup was demanding. Reuters, via MarketScreener, put Wednesday's regular-session close at $123.88, up 2.86%, and the options market had been pricing an implied post-earnings swing of about 8.26% in either direction, according to TipRanks on Wednesday. Cisco reported after the closing bell, and TipRanks put the stock roughly 3% higher in extended-hours trading after the release. The open question for Thursday is conversion: Cisco has now booked far more AI infrastructure demand than it has shipped, and the gap between the $9.3 billion ordered and the roughly $4 billion recognised is what the fiscal 2027 guide is asking investors to underwrite.