Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) wrapped up the Christmas Eve session essentially flat and then nudged modestly higher in thin after-hours trading—an unsurprising setup given that U.S. equities closed early at 1:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025 and remain closed on Thursday, Dec. 25 for Christmas. [1]
That calendar detail matters: there is no “market open tomorrow” for U.S. stocks. The next regular session is Friday, Dec. 26, 2025, and the key question for investors is whether CSCO’s steady holiday tape masks a bigger move once liquidity returns. [2]
Below is what happened to Cisco stock after the bell today, the most relevant Cisco-related headlines and analysis published today, and the practical checklist to watch before markets reopen.
Cisco stock price today: close, range, and after-hours quote
CSCO finished the Dec. 24 session at about $78.02, unchanged on the day, with a relatively tight intraday range ($77.85 low / $78.29 high) and lighter-than-normal holiday volume (about 7.71 million shares). [3]
In the after-hours session, Cisco traded slightly higher: around $78.09 (+0.09%) as of roughly 4:35 p.m. ET, and it appeared on lists of the most-active after-hours names—useful context, but also a reminder that holiday after-hours moves can be exaggerated by low liquidity and wider spreads. [4]
Quick take: Cisco didn’t give investors a fresh “signal” in today’s tape. If CSCO moves meaningfully next, it’s more likely to be driven by (1) broader risk appetite when trading normalizes, (2) new information (earnings, guidance, security developments), or (3) analyst positioning and options activity rather than a purely technical break from Christmas Eve trading.
The market backdrop: records, early close, and why it matters for CSCO
The broader market environment stayed constructive on the holiday-shortened day: the S&P 500 rose 0.3% to 6,932.05, the Dow gained 0.6% to 48,731.16, and the Nasdaq added 0.2% to 23,613.31, with the AP noting markets closed early and would remain closed Thursday. [5]
For Cisco investors, this matters because CSCO is often treated as a “quality large-cap tech” holding—tending to benefit when equity risk appetite is firm, but also sometimes lagging more speculative growth names on momentum days. In today’s tape, the market’s mild risk-on tone didn’t translate into a breakout for Cisco; it stayed stable.
Today’s Cisco headlines and analysis published on Dec. 24, 2025
Even with holiday-thinned news flow, there were three Cisco-specific items investors saw today—two “big picture” market reads and one more tactical.
1) AI + networking thesis: Zacks analysis syndicated to Nasdaq (published today)
A Zacks commentary published on Nasdaq this morning leaned into Cisco’s AI-driven networking narrative—highlighting (among other points) Q1 FY2026 networking revenue growth, hyperscaler AI infrastructure orders, and Cisco’s stated ambition for AI infrastructure revenue from hyperscalers in fiscal 2026, alongside competitive pressure from rivals in high-speed data-center networking. [6]
Why it matters before the next session: this is the “bull case” frame many investors are using to justify CSCO’s re-rating in 2025—Cisco as an AI infrastructure enabler (networking + security + observability), not just a legacy enterprise hardware vendor.
2) New February 2026 options listed (published today)
Nasdaq also carried a note that new February 2026 options began trading for CSCO—an incremental development, but relevant if you watch implied volatility, hedging flows, or “pin risk” around longer-dated strikes. [7]
Why it matters: fresh listed expirations can attract new positioning (covered calls, protective puts, collar structures), which can subtly influence short-term price behavior—especially when the next few sessions return to normal volume after a holiday.
3) Analyst/price-target update: President Capital trims target (dated today)
A MarketBeat item reported that President Capital reduced its Cisco price target to $88 from $90. The same piece summarized broader Street sentiment as mixed-to-positive, citing a consensus view and an average target in the mid-$80s. [8]
Why it matters: Cisco is already up sharply in 2025 (and recently traded near multi-year highs), so the market can become more sensitive to incremental target changes—especially if investors begin debating whether the stock has already “priced in” the AI/networking optimism.
What Cisco is projecting: guidance and the operating story investors are trading
When markets reopen, the most “anchoring” numbers for Cisco bulls and bears remain the company’s own guidance.
From Cisco’s Q1 FY2026 earnings materials filed with the SEC, the company guided (non-GAAP) to:
- Q2 FY2026 revenue:$15.0B to $15.2B
- Q2 FY2026 non-GAAP EPS:$1.01 to $1.03
- FY2026 revenue:$60.2B to $61.0B
- FY2026 non-GAAP EPS:$4.08 to $4.14 [9]
Reuters’ coverage of Cisco’s Q1 results and outlook also underscored the same central catalyst: AI-driven demand for networking gear and data-center investment, alongside Cisco’s expectation of meaningful AI infrastructure contribution from hyperscaler customers in fiscal 2026. [10]
What to watch in the next open: any macro headline that changes expectations for enterprise spending, cloud capex, or AI infrastructure build-outs can ripple into CSCO—even without Cisco-specific news—because that’s the narrative supporting the stock’s higher trading range.
The next big catalyst: earnings timing and the dividend clock
Earnings calendar
Market calendars currently point to mid-February 2026 for Cisco’s next earnings event (many listings cluster around Feb. 11, 2026, though dates can move until confirmed by the company). [11]
Why it matters now: after a quiet holiday tape, investors often reposition in early January ahead of the next earnings cycle. If CSCO breaks out (or breaks down) in the first week back, it’s frequently tied to “earnings season positioning” as much as to news.
Dividend watch
Cisco remains a dividend payer, and calendars flag an upcoming early-January ex-dividend window (for investors focused on income and total return). [12]
A risk factor investors shouldn’t ignore: the recent critical Cisco security advisory
Even though it wasn’t released today, one of the most consequential “Cisco headlines” in the last week has been cybersecurity-related—and it can matter for sentiment around Cisco’s security franchise.
Cisco published a critical security advisory (CVE-2025-20393) describing reports of cyberattacks targeting certain Cisco Secure Email Gateway and Secure Email and Web Manager appliances, noting the activity could allow attackers to execute commands with root privileges under specific exposed configurations. [13]
The National Vulnerability Database (NVD) entry for CVE-2025-20393 also indicates it was added to the U.S. government’s exploited-vulnerability workflow, with required-action language and a due date referenced in the record. [14]
Why this matters for CSCO stock into the next session:
- Security headlines can cut both ways—raising near-term reputational concerns while also reinforcing the long-term need for security spending.
- For stock trading, the key is whether there are follow-on developments (patch availability, expanded scope, customer impact disclosures, or major third-party incident attribution). If any emerge while U.S. markets are closed, they can show up as gap risk when trading resumes.
Technical context: where CSCO sits heading into the next open
With the caveat that holiday sessions can distort short-term technical reads, here’s the practical setup:
- Near-term support zone: ~$77.85 (today’s low). [15]
- Near-term resistance zone: ~$78.29 (today’s high), then the psychological $80 area where Cisco has traded recently. [16]
- Bigger picture reference point: CSCO closed around $80.25 on Dec. 10 (recent local peak area), and the stock’s 52-week high has been cited around $80.82 in widely circulated market summaries. [17]
Interpretation: CSCO is consolidating below recent highs. A clean move above ~$80 on normal volume would likely be read as “trend continuation,” while a break below the high-$77s could shift attention back toward the mid-$70s consolidation zone seen earlier in December.
What to know before markets reopen
Because U.S. markets are closed Thursday, Dec. 25, the real “tomorrow checklist” is what to monitor ahead of Friday, Dec. 26.
- Confirm the calendar and expect liquidity effects
U.S. markets: early close on Dec. 24 and closed Dec. 25. Liquidity typically normalizes gradually after the holiday. [18] - Watch for cybersecurity updates (vendor, NVD, and credible incident reporting)
Any changes around CVE-2025-20393—scope, mitigations, patch status, or impact—could influence sentiment when trading resumes. [19] - Track the AI infrastructure narrative—especially hyperscaler capex headlines
Cisco’s forward story is tied to AI-driven networking demand and its fiscal 2026 outlook. [20] - Keep an eye on options positioning into year-end and early January
With February 2026 options newly listed, watch whether open interest builds at key strikes around the high-$70s/low-$80s. [21] - Remember the “thin tape” rule
Today’s close and after-hours action are real, but they were set in a holiday environment—often a poor predictor of the first fully liquid session after the break.
Bottom line
Cisco stock ended Christmas Eve trading steady near $78, with a small after-hours uptick that should be interpreted cautiously given holiday conditions. [22]
The most actionable “from today” items were AI/networking-focused analysis, fresh long-dated options availability, and a modest analyst price-target trim—all reinforcing that Cisco is currently being traded on a blend of fundamentals (FY2026 guidance and AI-linked demand) and positioning rather than on a single breaking headline. [23]
When markets reopen, watch (1) liquidity returning after the holiday, (2) any cybersecurity follow-through, and (3) whether the broader market’s record-setting tone continues—because that backdrop has been supportive for large-cap tech like Cisco. [24]
This article is for informational purposes only and is not investment advice.
References
1. www.nasdaq.com, 2. www.nasdaq.com, 3. stockanalysis.com, 4. www.investing.com, 5. apnews.com, 6. www.nasdaq.com, 7. www.nasdaq.com, 8. www.marketbeat.com, 9. www.sec.gov, 10. www.reuters.com, 11. public.com, 12. finance.yahoo.com, 13. www.cisco.com, 14. nvd.nist.gov, 15. stockanalysis.com, 16. stockanalysis.com, 17. stockanalysis.com, 18. www.nasdaq.com, 19. www.cisco.com, 20. www.reuters.com, 21. www.nasdaq.com, 22. stockanalysis.com, 23. www.nasdaq.com, 24. apnews.com
