Cisco raises AI orders to $9B

Cisco reported record quarterly revenue on May 13 and raised its fiscal 2026 AI infrastructure orders target after saying demand from hyperscale customers accelerated. The company said third-quarter revenue rose 12% to $15.8 billion for the period ended April 25, 2026, while total product orders increased 35% from a year earlier. Networking product orders grew more than 50%, Cisco said, and AI infrastructure orders reached $5.3 billion year to date. The company lifted its fiscal 2026 AI infrastructure orders outlook to $9 billion from $5 billion and raised its expected fiscal 2026 AI infrastructure revenue to $4 billion from $3 billion. ### Why did the AI orders target jump so sharply? Cisco said May 13 that “significant momentum” in AI infrastructure from hyperscalers drove the increase. The company disclosed $5.3 billion of AI infrastructure orders taken year to date, a figure that exceeded the prior full-year target of $5 billion with one fiscal quarter still to go. (investor.cisco.com) Chuck Robbins, Cisco’s chair and chief executive, said in the earnings release that the company saw “very strong, broad-based demand” and that Cisco’s products were relevant for “connecting and securing AI.” The company did not break out individual hyperscale customers in the release. ### What in the quarter showed up outside the AI number? (investor.cisco.com) Total product orders rose 35% year over year in the third quarter, Cisco said, or 19% excluding hyperscalers. The company said networking product orders accelerated to more than 50% growth, campus networking orders rose more than 25%, and data center switching orders increased more than 40%. (investor.cisco.com) Mark Patterson, Cisco’s chief financial officer, said in the release that Cisco delivered double-digit growth in revenue and profit above the high end of guidance. Cisco reported GAAP net income of $3.4 billion, or $0.85 per share, and non-GAAP net income of $4.2 billion, or $1.06 per share. ### Where does security and observability fit in this story? (investor.cisco.com) Cisco said in its earnings materials that demand was broad-based across its portfolio, though the release highlighted networking most directly in the order figures. Robbins said the quarter showed demand for technology that connects and secures AI, linking the company’s networking and security businesses to AI-related spending. (investor.cisco.com) Cisco has spent the past two years folding Splunk into its business after closing that acquisition in 2024, giving it a larger observability software business alongside networking and security. The company’s current framing of AI infrastructure in public remarks centers on those areas, according to its earnings release and investor materials. (investor.cisco.com) ### What did Cisco say about the rest of fiscal 2026? Cisco guided fourth-quarter fiscal 2026 revenue to $16.7 billion to $16.9 billion and non-GAAP earnings to $1.16 to $1.18 per share. For the full fiscal year, the company projected revenue of $62.8 billion to $63.0 billion and non-GAAP earnings of $4.27 to $4.29 per share. (investor.cisco.com) The company said its earnings-per-share guidance includes the estimated impact of tariffs based on current trade policy. Cisco also said it returned $2.9 billion to shareholders in the quarter through dividends and share repurchases. ### What should investors watch next? May 18 and May 19 are Cisco’s next scheduled public investor appearances at J.P. (newsroom.cisco.com) Morgan’s 2026 Global Technology, Media and Communications Conference, according to the company’s events page. Those sessions follow the May 13 earnings report that reset Cisco’s fiscal 2026 AI orders target at $9 billion and its AI infrastructure revenue expectation at $4 billion. (investor.cisco.com 1) (investor.cisco.com 2)