Cisco beat Q3 fiscal 2026 estimates on Wednesday and nearly doubled its full-year AI infrastructure order guidance to $9 billion from $5 billion, sending shares 15 percent higher in after-hours trading. Adjusted EPS of $1.06 topped the LSEG consensus of $1.04, and revenue of $15.84 billion came in above the $15.56 billion estimate. The quarter ended April 25.

Revenue rose 12 percent year-on-year from $14.15 billion, the largest quarterly print in Cisco's history. GAAP EPS of $0.85 was up 37 percent versus the prior-year quarter, while adjusted EPS grew 10 percent. GAAP net income reached $3.4 billion, with non-GAAP net income at $4.2 billion. AI-related orders hit $5.3 billion year to date, already exceeding the original $5 billion full-year target with one quarter still to run. Networking and security both showed broad-based strength, with no major segment flagged as weak in the release.

Cisco raised full-year fiscal 2026 revenue guidance to $62.8 to $63.0 billion. The adjusted EPS guide moved to $4.27 to $4.29, up from $4.13 to $4.17 previously. The bigger move was on the AI side: management lifted the full-year AI infrastructure order expectation from $5 billion to $9 billion and raised the associated FY26 AI revenue contribution from $3 billion to $4 billion. Raising the order target by 80 percent after only two reported quarters above the original plan signals very high management visibility into second-half AI buildout demand.

On the call, CEO Chuck Robbins said in his prepared remarks: "Cisco delivered record quarterly revenue in Q3 and we saw very strong, broad-based demand for our products, demonstrating the relevance of our technology for connecting and securing AI." Robbins framed Cisco as essential plumbing for the current AI capex cycle rather than as an end-AI-product vendor. Management noted continued momentum in security and Splunk integration, both core priorities since the 2024 acquisition. No major capital allocation changes were announced.

CSCO traded up 14 to 15 percent in extended trading following the print, well beyond the 9.87 percent move options traders had priced in beforehand. The read-through to other networking and AI-infrastructure names is positive: Arista Networks, Juniper, and hyperscaler-facing memory and storage vendors moved higher in sympathy. The print also reinforces the broader AI capex thesis after it wobbled earlier in the day on the hot 6 percent PPI print. Analyst desks moved fast, with several broker price targets revised higher within the first hour of release.

The story of the print is the $9 billion AI order number. Cisco spent two years explaining how it fits into the AI buildout and tonight handed the market the proof.