Cisco (CSCO) sales growth sped up for a fourth quarter in a row, to 24%, and its profit grew even faster, its November 12, 2026 results show. Revenue hit a record $18.5 billion in the first quarter of fiscal 2027, led by networking gear, and Cisco raised its full-year forecast after topping its own.
The short answer. Cisco grew faster for the fourth straight quarter, and its profit grew faster still because its running costs barely rose. The results also show how much AI business one equipment supplier expects from the biggest cloud companies, $9 billion of AI infrastructure revenue this fiscal year, Cisco's release says.
That goal is about 12% of the middle of Cisco's sales forecast. Its forecast for the next quarter repeats the range it gave for the quarter it just beat.
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Every company reporting the same week, with its date and time, is in StockTitan's Earnings Calendar for the Week of November 9, 2026.
Cisco's sales rose 24% to $18.5 billion in the three months to October 24, 2026. Its profit grew even faster, since its operating costs grew much more slowly than its sales.
Product revenue rose 32%. Services revenue, such as support contracts, rose 1%.
Earnings per share is a company's profit divided by its shares. On the standard accounting basis, called GAAP, it rose 58% to $1.14. Cisco's non-GAAP figure leaves out costs such as stock-based pay and the cost of past acquisitions spread over time. It rose 40% to $1.40. Cisco said these were its strongest revenue and non-GAAP earnings per share growth rates in over 15 years.
Non-GAAP operating expenses, the cost of running the business, rose only 2%. The non-GAAP operating margin, the share of sales left after the costs of making and running the business, reached 37.8%, which Cisco called a record. The non-GAAP gross margin, what is left after the cost of making its products and services, fell to 65.6% from 68.1% a year earlier.
Mark Patterson, Cisco's finance chief, said that as the business grows, Cisco is able "to grow earnings much faster than revenue." In plain words, the cost of running the business barely grew, so more of the extra sales reached profit, even though the cost of making products rose with sales.
| Measure | Q1 fiscal 2027 | Q1 fiscal 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $18.5 billion | $14.9 billion | 24% |
| GAAP net income | $4.6 billion | $2.9 billion | 59% |
| GAAP earnings per share | $1.14 | $0.72 | 58% |
| Non-GAAP net income | $5.6 billion | $4.0 billion | 39% |
| Non-GAAP earnings per share | $1.40 | $1.00 | 40% |
| GAAP operating margin | 30.2% | ||
| Non-GAAP operating margin | 37.8% | ||
| Non-GAAP gross margin | 65.6% | 68.1% | |
| Non-GAAP operating expenses | $5.1 billion | 2% |
Source: Cisco's first quarter fiscal 2027 release, filed with the SEC, quarters ended October 24, 2026 and October 25, 2025.
Cisco stock rose after hours, but it swung widely on the way. At 4:45 p.m. ET it was up 2.3% from the regular close.
According to StockTitan real-time Nasdaq data, Cisco shares closed the regular session at $102.01 on November 12, before the release came out at 4:05 p.m. ET. In after-hours trading, the stock jumped as high as $110.63 at 4:06 p.m. ET. It then gave back that gain and touched $101.25 at 4:16 p.m. ET, just below the close.
At 4:45 p.m. ET, the last trade was $104.32, up 2.3% from the close, the same data show. Far fewer shares trade after hours than in the regular session, so prices can swing more. Cisco set its call with analysts for 4:30 p.m. ET.
Yes. Cisco's sales growth has picked up for four quarters in a row. Products supplied most of the gain, while services barely grew.
Cisco's revenue grew 8% from a year earlier in the first quarter of fiscal 2026. Growth then rose to 10%, 12% and 18% in the next three quarters, according to Cisco's first, second, third and fourth quarter releases. It reached 24% in the quarter that ended October 24, 2026.
Products drove the speedup. Product revenue growth rose from 10% to 32% over those five quarters. Services revenue stayed close to flat, between a 1% decline and 2% growth.
| Quarter | Revenue | Revenue growth | Product growth | Services growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 fiscal 2026 | $14.9 billion | 8% | 10% | 2% |
| Q2 fiscal 2026 | $15.3 billion | 10% | 14% | -1% |
| Q3 fiscal 2026 | $15.8 billion | 12% | 17% | -1% |
| Q4 fiscal 2026 | $17.3 billion | 18% | 24% | 0% |
| Q1 fiscal 2027 | $18.5 billion | 24% | 32% | 1% |
Source: Cisco's quarterly results releases filed with the SEC, quarters ended October 25, 2025 to October 24, 2026; growth is against the same quarter a year earlier.
Networking, the switches and routers that move data between computers, grew fastest at 43%. Every region grew by double digits.
Networking product revenue rose 43%. Security grew 7% and Collaboration 8%. Observability, Cisco's tools that watch how software runs, grew 2%.
Revenue rose 28% in the Americas and 18% in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. It rose 21% in Asia Pacific, Japan and China.
Cisco now expects $9 billion of AI revenue from the biggest cloud companies in fiscal 2027. In August, it expected $7.5 billion.
Cisco raised its goal for AI infrastructure revenue from hyperscalers to $9 billion in fiscal 2027. Hyperscalers are the giant cloud companies that build large AI data centers. In its August 12 release, Cisco expected $7.5 billion of this revenue in fiscal 2027. It said then that it delivered about $4 billion in fiscal 2026. Cisco now says the new goal is more than double the fiscal 2026 total.
The August release also said those customers placed $9.3 billion of AI infrastructure orders with Cisco in fiscal 2026. At $9 billion, the new goal would be about 12% of the midpoint, the middle, of Cisco's new full-year revenue range.
Cisco's release does not split the AI revenue by product. Chuck Robbins, Cisco's CEO, tied the quarter to networking, saying Cisco is in the "early stages of a multi-year networking supercycle," a long stretch of strong demand.
Cisco raised its full-year sales forecast by about $2.5 billion at the midpoint, the middle of its range. Its forecast for the second quarter sits below the first quarter it just reported.
Guidance is the range a company expects for its own results. For the full fiscal year, Cisco now expects revenue of $74.8 billion to $75.8 billion. On August 12, it expected $72.2 billion to $73.4 billion. Its range for non-GAAP earnings per share rose to $5.47 to $5.53, from $5.05 to $5.11.
For the second quarter, Cisco expects revenue of $18.0 billion to $18.2 billion. That is the same range it gave in August for the first quarter, when revenue came in at $18.5 billion.
| Guidance | August 12, 2026 | November 12, 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Fiscal 2027 revenue | $72.2 billion to $73.4 billion | $74.8 billion to $75.8 billion |
| Fiscal 2027 non-GAAP EPS | $5.05 to $5.11 | $5.47 to $5.53 |
| Fiscal 2027 GAAP EPS | $4.00 to $4.06 | $4.38 to $4.44 |
| Q1 fiscal 2027 revenue | $18.0 billion to $18.2 billion | $18.5 billion reported |
| Q2 fiscal 2027 revenue | $18.0 billion to $18.2 billion | |
| Q2 fiscal 2027 non-GAAP EPS | $1.34 to $1.36 | |
| Q2 fiscal 2027 GAAP EPS | $1.07 to $1.09 |
Source: Cisco's fourth quarter fiscal 2026 release and first quarter fiscal 2027 release, filed with the SEC.
Cisco returned $3.7 billion to shareholders in the quarter. More than half of it went to buying back its own shares.
Cisco paid $1.7 billion in dividends. It also spent $2.0 billion to buy back about 18 million of its own shares, and it has $6.1 billion left under its buyback plan.
Buybacks cut the number of shares, so each share counts for a bigger part of the profit. Cisco's diluted share count, the one used for earnings per share, fell slightly from a year earlier, as the table shows.
The board declared the next quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share. It will be paid on January 20, 2027, to shareholders on the company's books on January 4, 2027, the record date.
Operating cash flow, the cash the business brought in, was $4.4 billion. That was more than the $3.7 billion Cisco handed back to shareholders. Cisco also holds more debt than cash, about $29.8 billion of debt against $15.8 billion of cash and investments.
| Measure | Q1 fiscal 2027 |
|---|---|
| Dividends paid | $1.7 billion, $0.42 per share |
| Shares bought back | About 18 million, $2.0 billion, average $112.38 |
| Buyback authorization left | $6.1 billion, no end date |
| Diluted shares | 3.978 billion, against 3.993 billion a year earlier |
| Operating cash flow | $4.4 billion, up 36% |
| Cash, cash equivalents and investments, October 24, 2026 | $15.8 billion |
| Short-term debt, October 24, 2026 | $10.4 billion |
| Long-term debt, October 24, 2026 | $19.4 billion |
Source: Cisco's first quarter fiscal 2027 release, filed with the SEC, quarter ended October 24, 2026.
What to watch
Our numbers
These figures are our calculations from the sources linked in this article. A midpoint is only the middle of a range. Cisco's results can land anywhere in the range or outside it, as its first quarter revenue did.
Yes. In August, Cisco guided first quarter revenue of $18.0 billion to $18.2 billion and reported $18.5 billion. Its non-GAAP earnings per share of $1.40 topped its range of $1.32 to $1.34.
Cisco expects $74.8 billion to $75.8 billion, up from the $72.2 billion to $73.4 billion it expected on August 12, 2026.
Cisco will pay $0.42 per share on January 20, 2027, to shareholders of record on January 4, 2027.
A hyperscaler is one of the largest cloud companies, which run huge networks of data centers. Cisco expects $9 billion of AI infrastructure revenue from them in fiscal 2027.
Cisco has not announced the date of its second quarter fiscal 2027 results. It reported the same quarter a year earlier on February 11, 2026.
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