Cisco Q2 Earnings Preview: Dot-Com Behemoth Hits All-Time Highs, Expert Says 'Slow And Steady Climb' Could Continue

Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CSCO) shares hit new all-time highs on Tuesday ahead of the company's second-quarter financial results, set to be released on Wednesday after market close.

Here are the earnings estimates, what experts are saying ahead of the report and the key items to watch.

Cisco Q2 Earnings Estimates

Analysts expect Cisco to report second-quarter revenue of $15.12 billion, up from $13.94 billion in last year's second quarter, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

The company has beaten analyst estimates for revenue in more than 10 straight quarters.

Analysts expect Cisco to report second-quarter earnings per share of 94 cents, in line with last year's second quarter earnings per share of 94 cents.

The company has beaten analyst estimate for earnings per share in more than 10 straight quarters.

Guidance from Cisco is for second-quarter revenue to be in a range of $15 billion to $15.2 billion and earnings per share to be in a range of $1.01 to $1.03.

What Experts Are Saying About Cisco

Freedom Capital Markets Chief Market Strategist Jay Woods highlighted the Cisco of the old dot-com era, now pushing higher and making new highs.

"Cisco was one of the behemoths of the dot-com era and made headlines all the time," Woods said in a weekly newsletter.

The market expert said, "It tends to get lost in the news cycle for not being magnificent, but shares have doubled since its acquisition of Splunk."

Woods said that the Cisco chart shows a breakout after the last quarterly earnings, after a "summer of consolidation."

"The impressive thing is they are doing this while many of their technology peers are correcting and/or stalling. Will they be able to continue this trend after results?"

Woods said a disappointing quarter could see shares drop into the low $70s before another consolidation phase.

Ahead of Tuesday's all-time highs, Woods said on Sunday that a climb above the $85 level could be a breakout to take shares into "the low $100's easily."

"Maybe that slow and steady climb is about to pick up some speed."

Here are recent analyst ratings on Cisco stock and their price targets:

• Evercore ISI Group: Upgraded from In-Line to Outperform, raised price target from $80 to $100
• Morgan Stanley: Maintained Overweight rating, raised price target from $82 to $91

Key Items to Watch in Cisco's Q2 Earnings Report

Cisco shares hit new all-time highs on Tuesday on the heels of a company announcement of the Cisco silicon One G300, a chip that could help the company in the AI data center space. The chip is expected to help boost efficiency and allow companies to scale their AI-powered workloads.

The company also advanced its Nexus One platform to offer AI networking capabilities.

These latest advancements won't be part of the company's Q2 results, but will likely factor into guidance and management commentary.

Management was bullish after first-quarter financial results.

"We had a solid start to fiscal 2026, and Cisco is on track to deliver our strongest year yet," Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins said. "The widespread demand for our technologies highlights the critical role of secure networking and the value of our portfolio as customers move quickly to unlock the potential of AI."

The company raised its full-year guidance after first-quarter results. Based on that trend and shares at all-time highs, investors may be expecting another beat and raise from the company.

Cisco is part of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, but it is one of the smaller members by price in the price-weighted index. Cisco's results will have a minimal impact on ETFs like the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (NYSE:DIA), which tracks the index. Cisco is the 27^th largest holding of the 30 stocks in the ETF at 1.07% of assets.

The Cisco earnings could have a larger impact on technology ETFs like the SPDR Technology Select Sector ETF (NYSE:XLK), where Cisco is the seventh largest holding at 3.0% of assets.

Cisco Stock Price Action

Cisco stock has traded between $52.11 to $88.18 over the last 52 weeks, hitting a new high on Tuesday, which is an all-time high. Cisco stock is up 15.5% year-to-date in 2026 and up 39.9% over the last 52 weeks.

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