New York, Jan 31, 2026, 12:16 ET — Market closed.
Cisco Systems (CSCO.O) closed Friday nearly flat, slipping just 0.1% to $78.32. The modest dip still left the stock roughly 5% higher than it was a week ago. (StockAnalysis)
Monday’s session kicks off with Washington in focus: a partial federal shutdown has begun after funding for several agencies expired, tied to a standoff over Department of Homeland Security spending. The Senate approved a funding package late Friday, but the House isn’t expected to take it up until Monday. (Reuters)
Tech shares struggled Friday after Donald Trump announced he plans to nominate Kevin Warsh as Jerome Powell’s successor at the Federal Reserve, whose term ends in May. The Nasdaq slid 0.94%, while the S&P 500 lost 0.43%, shaken by higher-than-expected producer price inflation and fresh questions on interest rates. “The market is trying to calibrate to what the implications could mean for Fed policy and thus the economy,” said Michael Hans of Citizens Wealth. Angelo Kourkafas at Edward Jones described the pick as “net negative for equities.” (Reuters)
For the last two days, Cisco has focused its security narrative on AI. On Jan. 29, Cisco Foundation AI detailed “agentic security systems” — AI that actively pursues goals over time — and introduced a new cybersecurity reasoning model alongside a threat-hunting assistant, Yaron Singer reported. (Cisco Blogs)
Cisco Talos reported that almost 40% of the intrusions it examined in the fourth quarter started with exploitation of internet-facing services, a drop from 62% the quarter before, according to its annual review. The unit also noted it “did not respond to any previously unseen ransomware variants” — ransomware being malware that locks files to demand payment. (Cybersecurity Dive)
Cisco has inked a 15-year virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA) with R.Power S.A. in Poland, covering 470 gigawatt-hours from four new solar projects. The VPPA financially backs the renewable energy initiative without physical power delivery. Evan Scott Brown, from Sustainability Roundtable, Inc. and marketplace LevelTen Energy—both part of the deal—said, “We are proud to support the growth of renewable energy in Europe through this partnership.” The contract aligns with Cisco’s expanded power needs for new lab sites in Krakow, the companies confirmed. (PR Newswire)
At the moment, traders seem focused on Cisco as a play on rates and headlines, not the business itself. The real question: can Cisco’s AI networking and security push translate into actual orders? That’s a tough ask in markets crowded with Arista Networks and Palo Alto Networks, while Fortinet continues to make noise in the firewall space.
Cisco will report its fiscal second-quarter results on Feb. 11 at 4:30 p.m. ET. In its previous update, the company forecast revenue between $15.0 billion and $15.2 billion, with adjusted (non-GAAP) earnings per share ranging from $1.01 to $1.03. The non-GAAP figures exclude certain expenses to reflect the “core” profit. (Q4 Financials)
In November, Cisco upped its full-year outlook, citing strong demand for AI-focused networking gear. The company forecasted $3 billion in AI infrastructure revenue from hyperscalers — the major cloud providers — for fiscal 2026, after pulling in over $2 billion in AI-related orders during fiscal 2025. Cisco also wrapped up its $28 billion acquisition of Splunk in 2024, promoting the deal as a significant lift for its security and data analytics offerings. (Reuters)
The backdrop has grown messy. A prolonged shutdown or a sudden shift in rate bets could pressure big-cap tech valuations, prompting customers to halt projects instead of greenlighting new ones.
Next week’s first major macro event is the U.S. January jobs report, set for Feb. 6 per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics schedule. This report tends to shake up Treasury yields sharply. It’s also just days ahead of Cisco’s earnings announcement. (Bureau of Labor Statistics)
On Feb. 11, Cisco traders zeroed in on a key question: how much AI spending is actually hitting its order book—and at what margins.
