NEW YORK, June 18, 2026, 19:01 EDT
- Cisco finished the day up 1.88% at $119.54, ending a four-day losing streak. Trading volume topped its recent average.
- U.S. stock markets won’t open Friday because of the Juneteenth holiday. Thursday is the week’s last full trading day.
- Investors continue to weigh Cisco against its new, higher AI-infrastructure order goal as tech stocks keep running.
Cisco Systems shares climbed Thursday, bouncing back along with other tech stocks as investors stuck to the AI infrastructure trade ahead of a U.S. market holiday.
The stock closed at $119.54, rising 1.88%. It traded in a range between $117.38 and $120.32, market data showed. More than 52 million shares changed hands, a high volume that pointed to more than a typical pre-holiday move.
Nasdaq-listed shares are out of regular session Friday with U.S. equity markets shut for Juneteenth. Traders also handled “triple witching” — the quarterly expiry for stock options and index-linked derivatives. This event can send volumes higher and swing prices around. Barron’s
Cisco acted during a rebound on Wall Street. The Nasdaq Composite climbed roughly 1.9%, lifted by chip names. The S&P 500 was up 1.08%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged 0.14% higher, according to Reuters.
Arista Networks, seen as a key competitor in high-speed networking for data centers, ended up 2.87%. Broadcom climbed 4.60%, with chip and AI infrastructure stocks finding buyers. Hewlett Packard Enterprise dropped 1.63%.
Cisco shares are still down after May’s shift in expectations. The company posted record quarterly sales of $15.8 billion, up 12% from last year, and said product orders climbed 35%. Cisco also raised its forecast for fiscal 2026 AI infrastructure orders from hyperscale customers, bumping it to $9 billion, up from $5 billion.
Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins said demand was “very strong, broad-based,” calling Cisco “critical infrastructure for the AI era.” CFO Mark Patterson cited “financial discipline” after the company topped the high end of guidance. Cisco Investor Relations
AI demand isn’t just about chips anymore. Spending is starting to spill into switches, optics and software for big data centers. “Hyperscalers’ capital spending was more than just chips,” Direxion’s Ryan Lee told Reuters after Cisco’s earnings. The market’s reaction backed that up. Reuters
Cisco’s outlook has some tough spots too. In May, the company said it plans to cut under 4,000 jobs and expects up to $1 billion in restructuring charges. Cisco is moving spending to AI, security, silicon and optics. That puts the spotlight on execution as much as demand.
There’s a risk the market has already priced in plenty of good news. AI orders from hyperscalers are choppy, and higher memory and component costs could hit margins. Cisco’s guidance also already includes tariff assumptions. If orders drop off or if revenue takes longer to show up, shares might lose some of the AI premium they’ve picked up since earnings.
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