‘Critical infrastructure for the AI era’: Cisco’s CEO on the earnings beat that sent shares to a record

Cisco shares jumped more than 13% Thursday. The rally followed an earnings report Wednesday that showed the networking giant’s multi-year pivot to AI infrastructure is finally paying off. For the third quarter ended April 25, Cisco reported record revenue of $15.8 billion, up 12% year over year, topping the high end of its guidance. The company also raised its fiscal 2026 outlook, lifting its AI revenue target to $4 billion (from $3 billion) and AI orders target to $9 billion (from $5 billion). It guided current-quarter revenue as high as $16.9 billion, above Wall Street expectations. “In Q3, we once again delivered double-digit growth on both the top and bottom lines, which exceeded the high end of our guidance, coupled with record non-GAAP operating income,” Cisco CFO Mark Patterson said in a statement. The results, he added, show “great execution and financial discipline by our teams.” Chuck Robbins, Cisco’s chair and CEO, said the company is “well-positioned as the critical infrastructure for the AI era, building on our technology leadership and customer trust, while innovating at the speed and scale that our dynamic world demands.” Cisco, No. 83 on the Fortune 500, has a market cap of over $450 billion. The triumphant quarter is just the latest chapter in one of the most stunning AI-fueled turnarounds of the era. After soaring and then plummeting during the dot-com crash, Cisco took nearly 26 years to reclaim its 2000 highs, which it finally did in December 2025. Since then, the stock has gained nearly 50% and on Thursday hit a new intraday record of $119.36 per share. From dot-com darling to infrastructure workhorse Founded in 1984, Cisco is traditionally known as the backbone of the internet—its routers, switches, and networking hardware have powered enterprise and carrier networks for decades. Enterprise networking, data center switching, security appliances, and collaboration tools like Webex became the core pillars