Cisco Systems (CSCO) Competitors $67.95 -0.81 (-1.18%) Closing price 07/11/2025 04:00 PM EasternExtended Trading$67.94 -0.01 (-0.02%) As of 07/11/2025 07:58 PM Eastern Extended trading is trading that happens on electronic markets outside of regular trading hours. This is a fair market value extended hours price provided by Polygon.io. Learn more. Add Compare Share Share Competitors Stock AnalysisAnalyst ForecastsChartCompetitorsDividendEarningsFinancialsHeadlinesInsider TradesOptions ChainOwnershipSEC FilingsShort InterestSustainabilityTrendsBuy This Stock CSCO vs. GOOG, GOOGL, MSFT, NVDA, PANW, ZM, ANET, HPE, IBM, and JNPRShould you be buying Cisco Systems stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of Cisco Systems include Alphabet (GOOG), Alphabet (GOOGL), Microsoft (MSFT), NVIDIA (NVDA), Palo Alto Networks (PANW), Zoom Communications (ZM), Arista Networks (ANET), Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), International Business Machines (IBM), and Juniper Networks (JNPR). These companies are all part of the "computer and technology" sector. Cisco Systems vs. Its Competitors Alphabet Alphabet Microsoft NVIDIA Palo Alto Networks Zoom Communications Arista Networks Hewlett Packard Enterprise International Business Machines Juniper Networks Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) and Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) are both large-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, risk, earnings, profitability, media sentiment and institutional ownership. Is CSCO or GOOG more profitable? Alphabet has a net margin of 30.86% compared to Cisco Systems' net margin of 17.60%. Alphabet's return on equity of 34.54% beat Cisco Systems' return on equity.Company Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Cisco Systems17.60% 26.48% 9.87% Alphabet 30.86%34.54%25.07% Do institutionals and insiders believe in CSCO or GOOG? 73.3% of Cisco Systems shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 27.3% of Alphabet shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.0% of Cisco Systems shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 13.0% of Alphabet shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term. Do analysts recommend CSCO or GOOG? Cisco Systems presently has a consensus target price of $69.53, suggesting a potential upside of 2.32%. Alphabet has a consensus target price of $207.13, suggesting a potential upside of 14.24%. Given Alphabet's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Alphabet is more favorable than Cisco Systems.Company Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Cisco Systems 0 Sell rating(s) 8 Hold rating(s) 14 Buy rating(s) 2 Strong Buy rating(s) 2.75Alphabet 3 Sell rating(s) 5 Hold rating(s) 18 Buy rating(s) 6 Strong Buy rating(s) 2.84 Does the media refer more to CSCO or GOOG? In the previous week, Alphabet had 90 more articles in the media than Cisco Systems. MarketBeat recorded 164 mentions for Alphabet and 74 mentions for Cisco Systems. Cisco Systems' average media sentiment score of 1.36 beat Alphabet's score of 1.05 indicating that Cisco Systems is being referred to more favorably in the media. Company Very Positive Positive Neutral Negative Very Negative Overall Sentiment Cisco Systems 62 Very Positive mention(s) 4 Positive mention(s) 5 Neutral mention(s) 1 Negative mention(s) 0 Very Negative mention(s) Positive Alphabet 112 Very Positive mention(s) 13 Positive mention(s) 20 Neutral mention(s) 8 Negative mention(s) 2 Very Negative mention(s) Positive Which has better earnings & valuation, CSCO or GOOG? Alphabet has higher revenue and earnings than Cisco Systems. Alphabet is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Cisco Systems, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks. CompanyGross RevenuePrice/Sales RatioNet IncomeEarnings Per SharePrice/Earnings RatioCisco Systems$53.80B5.00$10.32B$2.4527.73Alphabet$350.02B6.29$100.12B$8.9720.21 Is CSCO or GOOG a better dividend stock? Cisco Systems pays an annual dividend of $1.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Alphabet pays an annual dividend of $0.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. Cisco Systems pays out 66.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Alphabet pays out 9.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Cisco Systems has increased its dividend for 13 consecutive years and Alphabet has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Cisco Systems is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth. Which has more volatility and risk, CSCO or GOOG? Cisco Systems has a beta of 0.9, indicating that its stock price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Alphabet has a beta of 1.01, indicating that its stock price is 1% more volatile than the S&P 500. SummaryAlphabet beats Cisco Systems on 15 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks. Get Cisco Systems News Delivered to You Automatically Sign up to receive the latest news and ratings for CSCO and its competitors with MarketBeat's FREE daily newsletter. Email Address New MarketBeat Followers Over TimeWhat are MarkeBeat Followers?This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding CSCO and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period. Skip ChartMedia Sentiment Over TimeWhat is Media Sentiment?This chart shows the average media sentiment of NASDAQ and its competitors over the past 90 days as caculated by MarketBeat. The averaged score is equivalent to the following: Very Negative Sentiment <= -1.5, Negative Sentiment > -1.5 and <= -0.5, Neutral Sentiment > -0.5 and < 0.5, Positive Sentiment >= 0.5 and < 1.5, and Very Positive Sentiment >= 1.5.Skip Chart CSCO vs. The Competition Export to ExcelMetricCisco SystemsCOMP IndustryComputer SectorNASDAQ ExchangeMarket Cap$272.29B$21.45B$27.64B$9.10BDividend Yield2.39%2.39%3.11%4.00%P/E Ratio27.7321.1536.8020.27Price / Sales5.002.181,881.7098.73Price / Cash18.0920.3738.1558.16Price / Book5.9710.317.285.49Net Income$10.32B$705.90M$767.99M$250.45M7 Day Performance-2.43%-2.98%-0.23%4.78%1 Month Performance4.38%3.54%4.07%7.67%1 Year Performance43.41%5,383,027.17%52,050.69%16.43% Cisco Systems Competitors List Export to ExcelCompanyMarketRankShare PriceAnalysts' Price Target1Y Price PerformanceMarket CapRevenueP/E RatioEmployee CountIndicator(s)CSCOCisco Systems4.6904 of 5 stars$67.95-1.2%$69.53+2.3%+45.3%$272.29B$53.80B27.7390,400Positive NewsAnalyst ForecastGOOGAlphabet4.8886 of 5 stars$180.22+0.3%$206.38+14.5%-3.2%$2.19T$350.02B20.09190,200Trending NewsAnalyst ForecastAnalyst RevisionGOOGLAlphabet4.2014 of 5 stars$179.08+0.2%$199.95+11.7%-2.9%$2.17T$350.02B19.96183,323Trending NewsAnalyst ForecastAnalyst RevisionMSFTMicrosoft4.4361 of 5 stars$498.25+1.5%$524.71+5.3%+10.7%$3.70T$245.12B38.50228,000Trending NewsAnalyst UpgradeNVDANVIDIA4.389 of 5 stars$159.28+1.3%$176.19+10.6%+29.5%$3.89T$130.50B51.3836,000Trending NewsAnalyst ForecastInsider TradePANWPalo Alto Networks4.5842 of 5 stars$201.50+2.3%$208.00+3.2%+13.2%$134.36B$8.03B115.1415,289Positive NewsInsider TradeZMZoom Communications4.7323 of 5 stars$78.12+0.7%$87.00+11.4%+29.7%$23.64B$4.67B23.467,412Insider TradeANETArista Networks4.2947 of 5 stars$102.45+1.3%$109.33+6.7%+20.9%$128.66B$7.00B43.364,412Positive NewsAnalyst ForecastHPEHewlett Packard Enterprise4.7121 of 5 stars$21.32+0.3%$21.85+2.5%-2.2%$27.97B$30.13B21.5361,000Trending NewsAnalyst ForecastIBMInternational Business Machines4.229 of 5 stars$291.66+1.4%$257.50-11.7%+58.9%$271.06B$62.75B50.20293,400Trending NewsAnalyst ForecastJNPRJuniper Networks3.2359 of 5 stars$39.95flat$40.00+0.1%N/A$13.36B$5.20B38.053,519 Related Companies and Tools Related Companies Alphabet Competitors Alphabet Competitors Microsoft Competitors NVIDIA Competitors Palo Alto Networks Competitors Zoom Communications Competitors Arista Networks Competitors Hewlett Packard Enterprise Competitors International Business Machines Competitors Juniper Networks Competitors Top 10 Stock Comparisons Semiconductor Stocks Artificial Intelligence Stocks Growth Stocks Magnificent Seven Stocks Pharmaceutical Stocks Ecommerce Stocks Bitcoin Stocks Meme Stocks Cryptocurrency Stocks Cybersecurity Stocks This page (NASDAQ:CSCO) was last updated on 7/12/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff From Our PartnersThis Signal Only Flashes Once Every 4 Years – And It Just TriggeredThis same signal has appeared twice before in the past 8 years — both times, it kicked off major moves in cryp...Crypto Swap Profits | SponsoredI was wrong about TrumpI made a mistake. 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