Cisco reported record quarterly revenue of $15.84 billion in its fiscal third quarter of 2026, up 12% year on year, driven by a surge in AI infrastructure orders that sent its shares up 15% in after-hours trading on 13 May 2026.¹⁹

AI order momentum

The company disclosed it has received $5.3 billion in AI infrastructure and hyperscaler orders so far in its fiscal year 2026.¹ Following the strong results, Cisco raised its full-year AI order forecast to $9 billion — up from a prior estimate of $5 billion, nearly doubling its guidance in a single quarter.¹⁴

Cisco also raised its expected full-year AI revenue to $4 billion, up from a prior projection of $3 billion.¹

Earnings and guidance

For the fiscal fourth quarter, Cisco guided for adjusted earnings per share of $1.16 to $1.18 on revenue of $16.7 billion to $16.9 billion.⁴ Analysts polled by LSEG had expected $1.07 in adjusted EPS on revenue of $15.82 billion, meaning Cisco's guidance exceeded the Street consensus on both measures.¹⁴

Job cuts alongside AI investment

Alongside the record results, Cisco announced it is cutting fewer than 4,000 jobs this quarter, representing less than 5% of its total workforce.¹⁶ CEO Chuck Robbins outlined the cuts in a blog post on 13 May, with the redundancy process beginning on 14 May 2026.⁶

The simultaneous announcement of record AI revenue and workforce reductions reflects a broader trend: legacy networking businesses restructuring headcount as AI capital expenditure from hyperscalers flows into hardware and software providers.³⁷

Market reaction

Cisco shares hit a record high following the results, surging approximately 15%.¹⁰ The results are widely read as a signal that AI infrastructure spending by major cloud providers is accelerating and flowing into established networking companies, not just AI-native firms.⁴⁸

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Cisco Posts Record Revenue as AI Infrastructure Orders Reach $5.3 Billion, Raises Full-Year Forecast to $9 Billion