CISCO REPORTS THIRD QUARTER EARNINGS

SAN JOSE, Calif., May 13, 2026 /PRNewswire/ --

News Summary:

• • Double-digit top and bottom-line growth exceeding the high end of our guidance
    • Record revenue of $15.8 billion, up 12% year over year; GAAP EPS of $0.85, up 37% year over year; and non-GAAP EPS of $1.06, up 10% year over year
    • GAAP gross margin of 63.6% and non-GAAP gross margin of 66.0%; GAAP operating margin of 25.0% and non-GAAP operating margin of 34.2%, demonstrating strong execution and operational efficiencies
  • Broad-based, record high demand for Cisco technology
    • Total product orders up 35% year over year; up 19% excluding hyperscalers
    • Growth in networking product orders accelerated to more than 50% year over year
  • Significant momentum and raised expectations for AI infrastructure from hyperscalers
    • $5.3 billion of orders taken year to date; raising expected FY26 orders to $9 billion, up from $5 billion
    • Raising expected FY26 revenue to $4 billion, up from $3 billion
  • Major multi-year, multi-billion-dollar campus networking refresh cycle underway
    • Campus networking orders grew greater than 25% year over year, with the next-generation portfolio ramping faster than prior product launches
    • Data center switching orders grew greater than 40% year over year
• Q3 FY 2026 Results:
  • Revenue: $15.8 billion
    • Increase of 12% year over year
  • Earnings per Share: GAAP: $0.85; Non-GAAP: $1.06
    • GAAP EPS increased 37% year over year
    • Non-GAAP EPS increased 10% year over year
• Q4 FY 2026 Guidance ⁽¹⁾:   
  • Revenue: $16.7 billion to $16.9 billion
  • Earnings per Share: GAAP: $0.80 to $0.85; Non-GAAP: $1.16 to $1.18
• FY 2026 Guidance ⁽¹⁾:
  • Revenue: $62.8 billion to $63.0 billion
  • Earnings per Share: GAAP: $3.16 to $3.21; Non-GAAP: $4.27 to $4.29

Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) today reported third quarter results for the period ended April 25, 2026. Cisco reported third quarter revenue of $15.8 billion, net income on a generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) basis of $3.4 billion or $0.85 per share, and non-GAAP net income of $4.2 billion or $1.06 per share.

"Cisco delivered record quarterly revenue in Q3 and we saw very strong, broad-based demand for our products, demonstrating the relevance of our technology for connecting and securing AI," said Chuck Robbins, chair and CEO of Cisco. "Cisco 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."

"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," said Mark Patterson, CFO of Cisco. "Our record results demonstrate great execution and financial discipline by our teams, enabling us to deliver shareholder value while we pursue the significant opportunities we see ahead." 

Reconciliations between net income, EPS, and other measures on a GAAP and non-GAAP basis are provided in the tables located in the section entitled "Reconciliations of GAAP to non-GAAP Measures."

Cisco Declares Quarterly Dividend

Cisco has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per common share to be paid on July 22, 2026, to all stockholders of record as of the close of business on July 6, 2026. Future dividends will be subject to Board approval.

Financial Summary

All comparative percentages are on a year-over-year basis unless otherwise noted.

Q3 FY 2026 Highlights

Revenue -- Total revenue was $15.8 billion, up 12%, with product revenue up 17% and services revenue down 1%.

Revenue by geographic segment was: Americas up 14%, EMEA up 9%, and APJC up 9%. Product revenue performance reflected growth in Networking, up 25% and Observability up 3%. Collaboration was down 1%. Security was flat.

Gross Margin -- On a GAAP basis, total gross margin, product gross margin, and services gross margin were 63.6%, 61.9%, and 69.2%, respectively, as compared with 65.6%, 64.4%, and 68.7%, respectively, in the third quarter of fiscal 2025.

On a non-GAAP basis, total gross margin, product gross margin, and services gross margin were 66.0%, 64.3%, and 71.6%, respectively, as compared with 68.6%, 67.6%, and 71.3%, respectively, in the third quarter of fiscal 2025.

Total gross margins by geographic segment were: 63.7% for the Americas, 71.3% for EMEA and 66.1% for APJC.

Operating Expenses -- On a GAAP basis, operating expenses were $6.1 billion, up 1% year over year, and were 38.6% of revenue. Non-GAAP operating expenses were $5.0 billion, up 5%, and were 31.9% of revenue.

Operating Income -- GAAP operating income was $4.0 billion, up 24%, with GAAP operating margin of 25.0%. Non-GAAP operating income was $5.4 billion, up 11%, with non-GAAP operating margin at 34.2%.

Provision for Income Taxes -- The GAAP tax provision rate was 16.5%. The non-GAAP tax provision rate was 19.0%.

Net Income and EPS -- On a GAAP basis, net income was $3.4 billion, an increase of 35%, and EPS was $0.85, an increase of 37%. On a non-GAAP basis, net income was $4.2 billion, an increase of 10%, and EPS was $1.06, an increase of 10%.

Cash Flow from Operating Activities -- $3.8 billion for the third quarter of fiscal 2026, a decrease of 7%, compared with $4.1 billion for the third quarter of fiscal 2025.

Balance Sheet and Other Financial Highlights

Cash and Cash Equivalents and Investments -- $16.6 billion at the end of the third quarter of fiscal 2026, compared with $16.1 billion at the end of fiscal 2025.

Remaining Performance Obligations (RPO) -- $43.5 billion, up 4% in total. Product RPO was up 6%, of which long-term RPO was $11.7 billion, up 6%. Services RPO was up 2%.

Deferred Revenue -- $28.6 billion, up 2% in total, with deferred product revenue up 2% and deferred services revenue up 2%.

Capital Allocation -- In the third quarter of fiscal 2026, we returned $2.9 billion to stockholders through share buybacks and dividends. We declared and paid a cash dividend of $0.42 per common share, or $1.7 billion, and repurchased approximately 16 million shares of common stock under our stock repurchase program at an average price of $80.28 per share for an aggregate purchase price of $1.3 billion. The remaining authorized amount for stock repurchases under the program is $9.6 billion with no termination date.

Guidance

Cisco expects to achieve the following results for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026:

Cisco estimates that GAAP EPS will be $0.80 to $0.85 for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026.

Cisco expects to achieve the following results for fiscal 2026:

Cisco estimates that GAAP EPS will be $3.16 to $3.21 for fiscal 2026.

Margin and EPS guidance includes the estimated impact of tariffs based on current trade policy.

Our Q4 FY 2026 guidance assumes an effective tax provision rate of approximately 16% for GAAP and approximately 19% for non-GAAP results. Our FY 2026 guidance assumes an effective tax provision rate of approximately 15% for GAAP and approximately 19% for non-GAAP results.

A reconciliation between the guidance on a GAAP and non-GAAP basis is provided in the tables entitled "GAAP to non-GAAP Guidance" located in the section entitled "Reconciliations of GAAP to non-GAAP Measures."

Editor's Notes:

• Q3 fiscal year 2026 conference call to discuss Cisco's results along with its guidance will be held on Wednesday, May 13, 2026 at 1:30 p.m. Pacific Time. Conference call number is 1-888-848-6507 (United States) or 1-212-519-0847 (international).
• Conference call replay will be available from 4:00 p.m. Pacific Time, May 13, 2026 to 10:00 p.m. Pacific Time, May 19, 2026 at 1-800-839-2232 (United States) or 1-203-369-3662 (international). The replay will also be available via webcast on the Cisco Investor Relations website at https://investor.cisco.com.
• Additional information regarding Cisco's financials, as well as a webcast of the conference call with visuals designed to guide participants through the call, will be available at 1:30 p.m. Pacific Time, May 13, 2026. The conference call will also be livestreamed on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/live/oihjxLboqdk & LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/events/7455725440733798400. Text of the conference call's prepared remarks will be available within 24 hours of completion of the call. The webcast and livestreaming will include both the prepared remarks and the question-and-answer session. This information, along with the GAAP to non-GAAP reconciliation information, will be available on the Cisco Investor Relations website at https://investor.cisco.com.

Margin and EPS guidance includes the estimated impact of tariffs based on current trade policy.

Except as noted above, this guidance does not include the effects of any future acquisitions/divestitures, significant asset impairments and restructurings, significant litigation settlements and other contingencies, gains and losses on investments, significant tax matters, or other items, which may or may not be significant.

Forward Looking Statements, Non-GAAP Information and Additional Information

This release may be deemed to contain forward-looking statements, which are subject to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements regarding future events (such as being well positioned for the AI era, the significant momentum and raised expectations of AI infrastructure from hyperscalers, the major multi-year, multi-billion-dollar campus networking refresh, the speed and scale of our innovation, the significant opportunities that lie ahead, and the timing and size of the restructuring) and the future financial performance of Cisco (including the guidance for Q4 FY 2026 and full year FY 2026) that involve risks and uncertainties, such as the actual impact of tariffs on our guidance for Q4 FY 2026 and full year FY 2026. Readers are cautioned that these forward-looking statements are only predictions and may differ materially from actual future events or results due to a variety of factors, including: business and economic conditions and growth trends in the networking industry, our customer markets and various geographic regions; global economic conditions and uncertainties in the geopolitical environment; our development and use of artificial intelligence; overall information technology spending; the growth and evolution of the Internet and levels of capital spending on Internet-based systems; variations in customer demand for products and services, including sales to the service provider market, cloud, enterprise and other customer markets; the return on our investments in certain key priority areas, and in certain geographical locations, as well as maintaining leadership in Networking and services; the timing of orders and manufacturing and customer lead times; supply constraints; changes in customer order patterns or customer mix; insufficient, excess or obsolete inventory; variability of component costs; variations in sales channels, product costs or mix of products sold; our ability to successfully acquire businesses and technologies and to successfully integrate and operate these acquired businesses and technologies; our ability to achieve expected benefits of our partnerships; increased competition in our product and services markets, including the data center market; dependence on the introduction and market acceptance of new product offerings and standards; rapid technological and market change; manufacturing and sourcing risks; product defects and returns; litigation involving patents, other intellectual property, antitrust, stockholder and other matters, and governmental investigations; our ability to achieve the benefits of restructurings and possible changes in the size and timing of related charges; cyber attacks, data breaches or other incidents; vulnerabilities and critical security defects; our ability to protect personal data; evolving regulatory uncertainty; terrorism; natural catastrophic events (including as a result of global climate change); any pandemic or epidemic; our ability to achieve the benefits anticipated from our investments in sales, engineering, service, marketing and manufacturing activities; our ability to recruit and retain key personnel; our ability to manage financial risk, and to manage expenses during economic downturns; risks related to the global nature of our operations, including our operations in emerging markets; currency fluctuations and other international factors; changes in provision for income taxes, including changes in tax laws and regulations or adverse outcomes resulting from examinations of our income tax returns; potential volatility in operating results; and other factors listed in Cisco's most recent reports on Forms 10-Q and 10-K filed on February 17, 2026 and September 3, 2025, respectively. The financial information contained in this release should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in Cisco's most recent reports on Forms 10-Q and 10-K as each may be amended from time to time. Cisco's results of operations for the three and nine months ended April 25, 2026 are not necessarily indicative of Cisco's operating results for any future periods. Any projections in this release are based on limited information currently available to Cisco, which is subject to change. Although any such projections and the factors influencing them will likely change, Cisco will not necessarily update the information, since Cisco will only provide guidance at certain points during the year. Such information speaks only as of the date of this release.

This release includes non-GAAP net income, non-GAAP gross margins, non-GAAP operating expenses, non-GAAP operating income and margin, non-GAAP effective tax rates, non-GAAP interest and other income (loss), net, and non-GAAP net income per share data for the periods presented. It also includes future estimated ranges for gross margin, operating margin, tax provision rate and EPS on a non-GAAP basis.

These non-GAAP measures are not in accordance with, or an alternative for, measures prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and may be different from non-GAAP measures used by other companies. In addition, these non-GAAP measures are not based on any comprehensive set of accounting rules or principles. Cisco believes that non-GAAP measures have limitations in that they do not reflect all of the amounts associated with Cisco's results of operations as determined in accordance with GAAP and that these measures should only be used to evaluate Cisco's results of operations in conjunction with the corresponding GAAP measures.

Cisco believes that the presentation of non-GAAP measures when shown in conjunction with the corresponding GAAP measures, provides useful information to investors and management regarding financial and business trends relating to its financial condition and its historical and projected results of operations.

For its internal budgeting process, Cisco's management uses financial statements that do not include, when applicable, share-based compensation expense, amortization of acquisition-related intangible assets, acquisition/divestiture-related costs, significant asset impairments and restructurings, significant litigation settlements and other contingencies, gains and losses on investments, the income tax effects of the foregoing and significant tax matters. Cisco's management also uses the foregoing non-GAAP measures, in addition to the corresponding GAAP measures, in reviewing the financial results of Cisco. In prior periods, Cisco has excluded other items that it no longer excludes for purposes of its non-GAAP financial measures. From time to time in the future there may be other items that Cisco may exclude for purposes of its internal budgeting process and in reviewing its financial results. For additional information on the items excluded by Cisco from one or more of its non-GAAP financial measures, refer to the Form 8-K regarding this release furnished today to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

About Cisco

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