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CSCO · Forward model · Networking

What has to happen in Networking

Model as of

This page changes Networking inside the complete CSCO model. Every other vertical, corporate programme and valuation assumption stays in the selected portfolio case.

CSCO forward model
Horizon
Consolidated fair value $85.60 all other verticals held in this portfolio case
Final-quarter revenue $13.38B 59% of company revenue
Explicit segment contribution $63.31B EBITDA less segment capex, before corporate items

Networking

Basis quarter$9.79B
Final quarter$13.38B
Implied CAGR+6%
Final revenue mix59%

Switching, routing, wireless and servers: $9,791M in the basis quarter, 56.8% of revenue and all of the growth. Q4 +28% year over year and FY2026 +22% after two down years, on networking product orders +40% and an eighth consecutive quarter of double-digit order growth. The hyperscaler AI infrastructure business lands here — about $4bn of FY2026 revenue against $9.3bn of FY2026 orders, guided to $7.5bn in FY2027. Cisco publishes no units, ports or capacity for this line, so sequential growth on the reported category is the only honest driver.

Last four quarters
2026 Q1 $7.77B Reported
2026 Q2 $8.29B Reported
2026 Q3 $8.81B Reported
2026 Q4 $9.79B Reported
Data-center and campus switching (Nexus, Catalyst)Routing and optics, including Silicon One systems sold to hyperscalersWirelessServers / UCSTerm software licences and SaaS attached to the above
Sequential growth +5.5%/qtr decaying toward +1.2% 5.5% into Q1 FY2027. That is the AI step-up the guide implies, not a repeat of the +11% Q4 print.
Networking

Latest: $13.38B (2031Q4E)

Period Value
2024Q1 $8.82B
2024Q2 $7.08B
2024Q3 $6.52B
2024Q4 $6.80B
2025Q1 $6.75B
2025Q2 $6.85B
2025Q3 $7.07B
2025Q4 $7.63B
2026Q1 $7.77B
2026Q2 $8.29B
2026Q3 $8.81B
2026Q4 $9.79B
2027Q1E $10.33B
2027Q2E $10.61B
2027Q3E $10.80B
2027Q4E $10.95B
2028Q1E $11.10B
2028Q2E $11.24B
2028Q3E $11.38B
2028Q4E $11.52B
2029Q1E $11.67B
2029Q2E $11.81B
2029Q3E $11.96B
2029Q4E $12.11B
2030Q1E $12.26B
2030Q2E $12.42B
2030Q3E $12.57B
2030Q4E $12.73B
2031Q1E $12.89B
2031Q2E $13.05B
2031Q3E $13.21B
2031Q4E $13.38B

Assumptions & reasoning

  • AI infrastructure is modelled inside this line and never as its own vertical. Cisco discloses AI revenue and AI orders once a year, so a quarterly AI series would be an invented sub-line that double-counts against Networking.
  • The order book runs above recognised revenue: $9.3bn of FY2026 AI orders against about $4bn of AI revenue, and product RPO of $23,436M, +9%. Orders are visibility, not revenue, so they inform the growth path rather than set it.
  • Opening 5.5% sequential puts FY2027 networking near $42.7bn, +23% on FY2026's $34,668M, which is the growth the consolidated $72.2-73.4bn guide needs given a flat Services line and a 2% Security year.
  • Margin 37% is assumed: non-GAAP product gross margin less consolidated operating expense, with the terminal at 34% because the hardware mix that took Q4 non-GAAP gross margin from 68.4% to 66.3% is treated as permanent.
  • Every vertical margin here is assumed. Cisco discloses gross margin by geography (Americas 64.5%, EMEA 70.1%, APJC 67.3% in the basis quarter) and product-versus-services gross margin, and never operating profit, capex or headcount by product category.
  • The two July quarters are derived, not printed: FY2024 Q4 and FY2025 Q4 are the fiscal-year column of the 10-K less the nine-month column of that year's Q3 10-Q, and both reconcile to the quarterly totals Cisco printed later, so they carry estimated: true.
  • Capex intensity is the consolidated rate applied to every line: FY2026 property and equipment $1,410M on $63,325M of revenue is 2.2%, and Cisco publishes no capex by product category to split it with.
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