Published: November 29, 2025
Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) heads into the final stretch of 2025 as one of the quiet outperformers of the AI trade. After Friday’s close, the networking giant’s stock sits just below its 52‑week high, supported by a wave of institutional buying, upbeat AI‑driven guidance, and a high‑profile telecom win in Iraq that could reshape how investors view its long‑term growth story. [1]
Today’s news flow (November 29) around Cisco stock is dominated by fresh 13F filings from large asset managers and a new analysis arguing that Cisco’s “bull case” may be evolving in light of its latest AI telecom deployment in the Middle East. [2]
Key takeaways
- Stock near highs: Cisco closed Friday, November 28, at about $77.08, up roughly 1.3% on the day and more than 33% over the past 12 months, outpacing the S&P 500. [3]
- Heavy institutional presence: New filings today show Mackenzie Financial, Schroder Investment Management, and others increasing positions, while a few funds trimmed stakes. Earlier this week, Norges Bank disclosed a massive new holding of 55 million shares. [4]
- AI telecom win in Iraq: A new Simply Wall St analysis highlights Cisco’s AI‑powered network assurance deal with Iraq’s leading mobile operator, Asiacell, as a potential turning point in the company’s investment narrative. [5]
- AI and earnings momentum: For Q1 FY 2026, Cisco beat expectations, raised its full‑year outlook, and reported $14.88 billion in revenue with growing AI infrastructure orders from hyperscalers. [6]
- Strategic AI bets: Cisco is extending beyond networking into full‑stack AI infrastructure, including a joint venture with AMD and HUMAIN to deploy up to 1 GW of AI capacity in Saudi Arabia by 2030, plus continued integration of its $28 billion Splunk acquisition. [7]
Cisco stock snapshot on November 29, 2025
Cisco ended Friday’s U.S. session at $77.08, up $1.01 (≈1.3%), according to MarketBeat’s real‑time feed. [8]
Key current metrics:
- Share price: ~$77
- 52‑week range:$52.11 – $80.06 [9]
- Market cap: about $300–307 billion [10]
- Trailing P/E ratio: around 29–30x [11]
- Total return (12 months): roughly 33%, beating the S&P 500’s ~14% over the same period [12]
- Dividend yield: about 2.1–2.2%, with an annual payout near $1.63–$1.64 per share and a 13‑year dividend‑increase streak [13]
Risk‑adjusted performance also looks solid: PortfoliosLab estimates Cisco’s 1‑year Sharpe ratio around 1.42, meaning the stock has delivered strong excess returns relative to its volatility versus the broader market. [14]
For investors tracking the AI infrastructure theme, that combination of price momentum, dividends, and improving risk‑adjusted returns explains why CSCO has started to reappear on momentum and “quality income” screens rather than being viewed only as a slow‑growth legacy hardware name.
Today’s headlines: a cluster of big‑money moves into CSCO
Cisco’s November 29 news tape is dominated by four MarketBeat “instant alert” headlines summarizing fresh 13F filings with the SEC. Together, they underscore just how institutionally owned the stock has become.
1. Mackenzie Financial adds roughly 1.7 million shares
A new 13F filing shows Mackenzie Financial Corp significantly increasing its Cisco stake by purchasing about 1.67 million additional shares in the second quarter. The position now represents several hundred million dollars in exposure and a noticeable percentage of Cisco’s shares outstanding. [15]
2. Schroder Investment Management grows its position
Schroder Investment Management Group also disclosed that it boosted its Cisco holdings, adding more than 100,000 shares and bringing its total position above 4 million shares valued in the high‑hundreds of millions of dollars. [16]
3. New York State Common Retirement Fund trims, but still large
In contrast, the New York State Common Retirement Fund modestly cut its Cisco position, selling tens of thousands of shares. Even after trimming, the fund still holds over 5 million shares, making CSCO a meaningful holding within one of the largest U.S. public pension portfolios. [17]
4. Level Four Advisory Services makes a small reduction
Level Four Advisory Services LLC reported selling 4,530 shares, reducing its position by about 4.7% to roughly 92,000 shares worth just over $6 million. [18]
These moves land on top of a much bigger institutional story that unfolded earlier this week: Norges Bank, Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, disclosed a new position of 55,013,326 Cisco shares, worth about $3.8 billion and representing roughly 1.39% of the company. [19]
MarketBeat’s analysis notes that around 73% of Cisco’s float is now held by institutions and hedge funds, while insiders own only a tiny fraction of outstanding shares. [20]
What it means:
- The direction of travel is still net positive: more headlines describe institutions buying or initiating stakes than selling out. [21]
- Large, long‑only asset managers (pension funds, sovereign funds, global equity managers) appear comfortable holding Cisco as a core AI‑and‑income position rather than a high‑beta speculative play.
- At the margin, small reductions like those from Level Four and the New York State fund look more like portfolio rebalancing than a vote of no confidence.
AI telecom win in Iraq: why the bull case is evolving
The most talked‑about qualitative news today isn’t another 13F filing but a Simply Wall St article titled “The Bull Case For Cisco Systems (CSCO) Could Change Following Major AI Telecom Win in Iraq – Learn Why.” [22]
While the full text is behind throttled access, the headline and related coverage point to Cisco’s role in an AI‑driven upgrade of Iraq’s telecom infrastructure:
- Asiacell, Iraq’s leading mobile network operator, has partnered with Cisco to deploy the company’s AI‑driven Provider Connectivity Assurance (PCA) platform, bringing advanced automation and AI‑based network assurance to its mobile network. [23]
- The project aims to boost network intelligence, reliability and customer experience, using AI to detect, predict and resolve issues faster than traditional operations tools. [24]
The Simply Wall St piece frames this as more than just a one‑off win: it suggests that carrier‑grade AI deployments in emerging markets could broaden Cisco’s growth runway beyond hyperscale data centers and enterprise campuses. [25]
From an investor’s perspective, the Asiacell deal matters because:
- Software and automation revenue – AI‑powered assurance platforms typically come with recurring software and services contracts, which carry higher margins than box‑only hardware sales.
- Proof point for telco AI – Being chosen by a leading operator in a complex environment like Iraq is a strong reference customer as other telecoms look to layer AI on top of their 4G/5G networks.
- Geo‑diversification – Wins in the Middle East and emerging markets diversify Cisco’s AI story beyond U.S. hyperscalers and European enterprises.
It’s easy to see why analysts would argue that Cisco’s bull case is shifting from “stodgy router vendor” to “AI‑first infrastructure and security platform” as these deployments stack up.
Earnings, guidance and AI demand: what Q1 FY 2026 told the market
Cisco’s recent first‑quarter fiscal 2026 report (quarter ended October 25, 2025) set the fundamental backdrop for the rally we’re seeing into late November:
- Revenue:$14.88 billion, slightly ahead of analyst expectations around $14.77 billion. [26]
- GAAP EPS: about $0.72; non‑GAAP EPS:$1.00, beating consensus of $0.98. [27]
- Year‑over‑year growth: Revenue up roughly 7.5%, with EPS growing from $0.91 in the prior‑year quarter. [28]
- Shareholder returns: Cisco returned about $3.6 billion to shareholders in the quarter via dividends and buybacks, including a $0.41 per‑share dividend and roughly 29 million shares repurchased at an average price around $68.28. [29]
Most importantly for the stock’s AI narrative:
- Cisco reported $14.88 billion in Q1 revenue while noting $1.3 billion in AI infrastructure orders from hyperscaler customers in the quarter. [30]
- Management lifted its fiscal 2026 revenue outlook to $60.2–$61.0 billion, up from prior guidance of $59–$60 billion, and guided non‑GAAP EPS to $4.08–$4.14. [31]
Earlier in 2025, Cisco had already announced it had surpassed $1 billion in cumulative AI infrastructure orders from hyperscalers ahead of schedule, bolstered by its Nexus switching, Unified Fabric Experience and partnerships with NVIDIA and regional “neocloud” providers. [32]
Those numbers help explain why the stock spiked more than 6–7% in the immediate aftermath of the earnings release and has held most of those gains since. [33]
Strategic AI bets: from Splunk to Saudi Arabia
Splunk: a $28 billion pivot into security and observability
Cisco’s $28 billion acquisition of Splunk (completed in March 2024) remains central to any long‑term thesis on the stock. Under the deal, Cisco paid $157 per Splunk share in cash, making it the largest acquisition in the company’s history. [34]
The acquisition:
- Deepens Cisco’s presence in security, log analytics and observability, areas that are increasingly data‑ and AI‑driven. [35]
- Is being integrated across Cisco’s Full‑Stack Observability, Security Cloud and AI analytics portfolios, creating what some commentators describe as a “Cisco Data Fabric” that connects network telemetry, application data and security signals. [36]
Recent commentary from Simply Wall St and other analysts argues that much of Cisco’s ≈29–33% share price surge this year reflects confidence that Splunk can help transition Cisco toward higher‑margin, recurring software revenue tied to AI‑driven security and observability. [37]
AMD–Cisco–HUMAIN: 1 GW of AI infrastructure planned
On November 19, 2025, Cisco announced a joint venture with AMD and HUMAIN, a Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) portfolio company, to build up to 1 gigawatt of AI infrastructure by 2030, beginning with a 100 MW deployment in Saudi Arabia starting in 2026. [38]
Key points from the press release:
- AMD, Cisco and HUMAIN will be founding investors and exclusive technology partners to the JV.
- Phase 1 will combine HUMAIN’s modern data centers with AMD Instinct MI450 GPUs and Cisco’s “critical infrastructure” solutions, targeting cost‑efficient, high‑performance AI workloads. [39]
- The project is explicitly aligned with Saudi Arabia’s ambition to become a global AI hub, with the JV positioned as foundational infrastructure for regional and global AI customers. [40]
This JV gives Cisco a visible, large‑scale AI infrastructure pipeline outside U.S. and European hyperscalers, tying the brand directly to national AI strategies in high‑growth regions.
Valuation, dividends and analyst sentiment
With the stock hovering around $77, investors naturally ask whether Cisco still offers upside after this year’s rally.
Valuation and income profile
Recent data from MarketBeat and PortfoliosLab show: [41]
- Trailing P/E: ~29–30x
- PEG ratio: ~3.0 on many screens (suggesting investors are willing to pay up for mid‑single‑digit to high‑single‑digit earnings growth plus AI optionality)
- Dividend yield: about 2.1–2.2%, with 13 consecutive years of dividend increases and a payout ratio just over 60%
- 1‑year total return: ≈ 33%, versus about 14% for the S&P 500
For income and quality‑growth investors, Cisco offers a blend of dividend income, buybacks and AI‑linked growth, rather than the “all or nothing” volatility of pure‑play AI chipmakers.
What Wall Street expects
MarketBeat’s latest roundup of analyst research notes that: [42]
- Around 17 analysts rate Cisco a Buy and 9 rate it Hold, for an overall “Moderate Buy” consensus.
- The average price target sits near $84, implying high single‑digit upside from Friday’s close.
- Several firms – including Argus, KeyCorp and Piper Sandler – have recently raised their price targets into the mid‑$80s to $100 range, citing strength in AI infrastructure and security.
That said, at least one prominent analyst previously downgraded Cisco earlier this year, arguing that investors still need clearer, more granular disclosure of AI‑specific revenue rather than just order totals. [43]
Risks to watch
No bullish case on CSCO is complete without recognizing what could go wrong:
- Execution on AI commitments
Cisco has raised expectations by highlighting billions in AI infrastructure orders and by signing large joint ventures. If those projects slip, or if customers slow spending, investors could reassess the premium they’re willing to pay. [44] - Competitive pressures
In data‑center networking and AI fabrics, Cisco competes with Arista, Broadcom and others, while hyperscalers consider custom silicon and white‑box solutions. Maintaining share and pricing power in that environment is not trivial. - Security and product vulnerabilities
Cisco equipment is foundational to many networks, which also makes it a prime target. Recent advisories have highlighted critical vulnerabilities in Cisco software and hardware that required urgent patching; any major breach or exploit could damage the brand and trigger new compliance costs. [45] - Splunk integration and macro sensitivity
The Splunk deal is huge; integrating technology stacks, sales motions and cultures at that scale is inherently risky. Meanwhile, Cisco’s customers are enterprises, telcos and governments—sectors that can tighten IT budgets during economic slowdowns. [46]
What today’s news means for CSCO investors
Putting all of this together, November 29’s Cisco headlines paint a clear picture:
- Big money is still engaged. Sovereign wealth funds, large asset managers and pension funds are either initiating or increasing positions, even as some smaller managers trim exposure. Overall institutional ownership remains above 70% of the float. [47]
- The AI story is broadening. Cisco is no longer just talking about AI in data centers; deals like Asiacell in Iraq and the AMD–HUMAIN joint venture in Saudi Arabia show the company tying AI infrastructure to telecom and national‑scale digital strategies. [48]
- Fundamentals and guidance support the move. A clean earnings beat, raised FY 2026 guidance and accelerating AI orders from hyperscalers give the rally a tangible foundation rather than purely speculative enthusiasm. [49]
For investors and traders following Cisco Systems stock on Google News or Discover, today’s news suggests CSCO is increasingly viewed as a high‑quality AI infrastructure and security platform with dividend support, not just a legacy router vendor.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. Always do your own research or consult a licensed financial professional before making investment decisions.
References
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