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Cisco Systems (CSCO) Stock Forecast & Price Target

Cisco Systems logo
$104.89 -2.37 (-2.21%)
Closing price 10/22/2026 04:00 PM Eastern
Extended Trading
$105.10 +0.21 (+0.20%)
As of 10/22/2026 07:59 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 Massive. Learn more.

Cisco Systems - Analysts' Recommendations and Stock Price Forecast (2026)

Consensus Rating

Sell
0
Hold
7
Buy
19

Based on 26 Wall Street analysts who have issued ratings for Cisco Systems in the last 12 months, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy." Out of the 26 analysts, 7 have given a hold rating, 16 have given a buy rating, and 3 have given a strong buy rating for CSCO.

Consensus Price Target

$128.52
22.53% Upside
According to the 26 analysts' twelve-month price targets for Cisco Systems, the average price target is $128.52. The highest price target for CSCO is $165.00, while the lowest price target for CSCO is $88.00. The average price target represents a forecasted upside of 22.53% from the current price of $104.89.
MarketBeat calculates consensus analyst ratings for stocks using the most recent rating from each Wall Street analyst that has rated a stock within the last twelve months. Each analyst's rating is normalized to a standardized rating score of 1 (sell), 2 (hold), 3 (buy) or 4 (strong buy). Analyst consensus ratings scores are calculated using the mean average of the number of normalized sell, hold, buy and strong buy ratings from Wall Street analysts. Each stock's consensus analyst rating is derived from its calculated consensus ratings score (0 to .5 = Strong Sell, .5 to 1 = Sell, 1 to 1.5 = Reduce, 1.5 to 2.5 = Hold, 2.5 to 3.0 = Moderate Buy, 3.0 to 3.5 = Buy, >3.5 = Strong Buy). MarketBeat's consensus price targets are a mean average of the most recent available price targets set by each analyst that has set a price target for the stock in the last twelve months. MarketBeat's consensus ratings and consensus price targets may differ from those calculated by other firms due to differences in methodology and available data.
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CSCO Analyst Ratings Over Time

TypeCurrent Forecast
10/23/25 to 10/23/26
1 Month Ago
9/23/25 to 9/23/26
3 Months Ago
7/25/25 to 7/25/26
1 Year Ago
10/23/24 to 10/23/25
Strong Buy
3 Strong Buy rating(s)
2 Strong Buy rating(s)
3 Strong Buy rating(s)
1 Strong Buy rating(s)
Buy
16 Buy rating(s)
16 Buy rating(s)
15 Buy rating(s)
12 Buy rating(s)
Hold
7 Hold rating(s)
7 Hold rating(s)
6 Hold rating(s)
9 Hold rating(s)
Sell
0 Sell rating(s)
0 Sell rating(s)
0 Sell rating(s)
0 Sell rating(s)
Consensus Price Target$128.52$129.36$123.14$74.72
Forecasted Upside22.53% Upside21.55% Upside7.86% Upside6.34% Upside
Consensus RatingModerate BuyModerate BuyModerate BuyModerate Buy

CSCO Analyst Recommendations By Month

The chart below shows how a company's ratings by analysts have changed over time. Each bar represents the previous year of ratings for that month. Within each bar, the sell ratings are shown in red, the hold ratings are shown in yellow, the buy ratings are shown in green, and the strong buy ratings are shown in dark green.
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CSCO Price Targets by Month

The chart below shows how a company's share price and consensus price target have changed over time. The dark blue line represents the company's actual price. The lighter blue line represents the stock's consensus price target. The even lighter blue range in the background of the two lines represents the low price target and the high price target for each stock.
Skip Chart and View Analyst Price Target HistorySkip Chart & View Price History Table

Cisco Systems Stock vs. The Competition

TypeCisco SystemsTechnology CompaniesBroader Market
Consensus Rating Score
2.85
2.23
2.53
Consensus RatingModerate BuyHoldModerate Buy
Predicted Upside22.53% Upside834.31% Upside15.79% Upside
News Sentiment Rating
Positive News

See Recent CSCO News
Neutral News
Positive News
Report Date
0 Results
DateBrokerageAnalystActionRatingPrice TargetReport Date
Upside/Downside
Details
9/30/2026
Zacks Research logo
Zacks Research
4 of 5 stars
 UpgradeHold ➝ Strong-Buy
9/30/2026
Daniel Zhu
Daniel Zhu
Not Rated
Initiated CoverageMarket Perform$110.00+2.86%
9/22/2026
Piper Sandler logo
Piper Sandler
2 of 5 stars
James Fish
James Fish
3 of 5 stars
Lower TargetNeutral$132.00 ➝ $125.00+18.81%
9/1/2026Initiated CoverageHold ➝ Buy$135.00+22.18%
8/26/2026 Reiterated RatingBuy (B)
8/16/2026 UpgradeHold ➝ Strong-Buy
8/14/2026DowngradeBuy ➝ Hold$137.00 ➝ $120.00+5.75%
8/13/2026Boost TargetBuy$132.00 ➝ $138.00+21.62%
8/13/2026Boost TargetBuy$125.00 ➝ $140.00+23.93%
8/13/2026Boost TargetOverweight$130.00 ➝ $150.00+31.31%
8/13/2026Boost TargetEqual Weight$121.00 ➝ $123.00+7.67%
8/13/2026Boost TargetOverweight$130.00 ➝ $135.00+8.98%
8/13/2026Boost TargetBuy$150.00 ➝ $165.00+33.19%
8/13/2026Boost TargetOverweight$130.00 ➝ $135.00+8.98%
6/8/2026Boost TargetBuy$135.00 ➝ $150.00+18.97%
6/3/2026 Boost TargetNeutral$116.00 ➝ $125.00-1.47%
5/19/2026 Boost TargetBuy$100.00 ➝ $150.00+29.87%
5/18/2026 Boost TargetOutperform$96.00 ➝ $125.00+7.62%
5/15/2026 Boost Target$90.00 ➝ $130.00+10.70%
5/14/2026 Boost TargetOutperform$110.00 ➝ $150.00+28.35%
5/14/2026 Boost TargetOutperform$87.00 ➝ $132.00+12.95%
5/14/2026Boost TargetBuy$90.00 ➝ $112.00-4.27%
5/14/2026 Boost TargetNeutral$82.00 ➝ $122.00+4.32%
5/11/2026Boost Target$95.00 ➝ $96.00-0.58%
2/18/2026 DowngradeBuy ➝ Hold
2/13/2026 UpgradeStrong-Buy
12/24/2025 Lower Target$90.00 ➝ $88.00+12.79%
11/13/2025Boost TargetBuy$84.00 ➝ $100.00+35.21%
8/14/2025 UpgradeHold
7/8/2025Initiated CoveragePeer Perform

Analyst ratings data on MarketBeat is provided by Benzinga and other data providers. This page was last refreshed on Friday at 01:10 AM ET.


Should I Buy Cisco Systems Stock? CSCO Pros and Cons Explained

These pros and cons were generated based on recent news and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate insights. They were last updated on Thursday, October 22, 2026. Please send any questions or comments about these Cisco Systems pros and cons to contact@marketbeat.com.

Cisco Systems
Bull Case

green Wall Street bull icon

Here are some ways that investors could benefit from investing in Cisco:

  • Cisco is currently trading at $104.89, which is significantly below the consensus price target of $128.52, suggesting substantial upside potential for investors who believe the market is undervaluing the company's position in the AI infrastructure buildout.
  • The company recently announced new high-density AI networking hardware, including Silicon One G302 switches and a planned 400Gb/s per lane USFP optical module co-developed with NVIDIA, TE Connectivity, and Amphenol, positioning Cisco to capture a larger share of the expanding AI data center market.
  • Cisco's Splunk business is benefiting from growing demand for observability tools as AI agents create unpredictable workloads and telemetry expenses, allowing the company to monetize the need for monitoring agent performance and controlling software waste through recurring revenue streams.
  • Analysts have recently upgraded Cisco's outlook, with Zacks Research raising its rating to "strong-buy" and Wells Fargo increasing its price target to $150.00, reflecting confidence that Cisco's established customer base and cash generation provide a competitive advantage as enterprise AI spending broadens beyond chips to networking and security.
  • Institutional investors are increasing their stakes in the company, with Vest Financial LLC boosting its holdings by 56.7% in the third quarter and Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC increasing its stake by 142.5%, indicating strong professional confidence in Cisco's long-term growth trajectory.

Cisco Systems
Bear Case

red Wall Street bear icon

Investors should be bearish about investing in Cisco for these reasons:

  • Investors remain concerned that Arista Networks may have a more focused, margin-rich position in modern AI data-center networking, posing a competitive threat to Cisco's broader, legacy enterprise exposure and potentially pressuring growth and margins if it loses key design wins.
  • Corporate insiders have been consistently selling shares, with the CEO Charles Robbins selling 21,628 shares in August 2026 and other executives like Oliver Tuszik and Deborah L. Stahlkopf also reducing their positions, which may signal a lack of confidence in the stock's near-term performance.
  • Short interest in Cisco has remained relatively high, with 51,066,484 shares shorted as of September 30, 2026, representing a short percentage of float of approximately 1.3%, indicating that a significant portion of the market is betting against the stock's price appreciation.
  • The stock has experienced recent volatility and declines, falling more than the broader market on October 22, 2026, and showing a pattern of percent declines in mid-October, which may reflect investor uncertainty about the sustainability of the AI-driven rally.
  • Cisco's broader product portfolio and legacy enterprise focus may result in lower margins compared to more specialized competitors, as the company must support a wider range of products and services, potentially limiting its ability to capture the full margin upside of the AI networking boom.

CSCO Forecast - Frequently Asked Questions

According to the research reports of 26 Wall Street equities research analysts, the average twelve-month stock price forecast for Cisco Systems is $128.52, with a high forecast of $165.00 and a low forecast of $88.00.

26 Wall Street equities research analysts have issued "buy," "hold," and "sell" ratings for Cisco Systems in the last twelve months. There are currently 7 hold ratings, 16 buy ratings and 3 strong buy ratings for the stock. The consensus among Wall Street equities research analysts is that investors should "moderate buy" CSCO shares.

According to analysts, Cisco Systems's stock has a predicted upside of 22.53% based on their 12-month stock forecasts.

Over the previous 90 days, Cisco Systems's stock had 2 upgrades and 2 downgrades by analysts.

Analysts like Cisco Systems more than other "technology" companies. The consensus rating for Cisco Systems is Moderate Buy while the average consensus rating for "technology" companies is Hold. Learn more on how CSCO compares to other companies.


MarketBeat monitors more than a dozen sources for Cisco Systems analyst ratings, with the most recent rating issued on 9/30/2026.
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