Where Will Cisco (CSCO) Stock Be in 5 Years?

Sometimes favored but other times reviled, Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO | CSCO Price Prediction) is a technology firm that never ceases to garner interest. Cisco stock is always in motion, but the burning question is whether the share price will be higher or lower in five years’ time. 

At the very least, bulls and bears must concede that Cisco has come a long way since the dot-com-era days. Today, Cisco is a strong networking/communications technology market contender that’s deeply immersed in artificial intelligence (AI).

The pessimists might declare that Cisco peaked in the dot-com days, but that’s an overly harsh assessment. Frankly, it’s fine that some folks underestimate Cisco as this leaves the door open to significantly higher share prices in the coming years.

Rocket Ship Takes a Dip

Over the past year and a half, CSCO stock has been on a rocket ride that undoubtedly put some short sellers out of commission. There’s been a recent price pullback which we’ll discuss in a moment, but overall, the momentum has been decidedly to the upside.

It’s probably a good thing that Cisco stock dipped from $85 to $75 as this will allow for some digestion of the gains. Notably, Cisco’s trailing 12-month price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio is 21.44x, which is 8.43% below the sector average.

To put it another way, Cisco appears to be reasonably valued and you don’t have to worry about buying at the top now. On its multi-year trajectory, CSCO stock has the potential to double to $150 in five years — and wouldn’t you rather get in at $75 than at $85?

By the way, Cisco stock also happens to pay a decent dividend for a large-cap technology stock. At the moment, Cisco’s forward annual dividend yield is nearly 2%, and our five-year share-price forecast doesn’t include the dividend-reinvestment opportunities.

Perfectly Good Results

The naysayers can complain about a CSCO stock “rug pull” from $85 to $75 if they want to. Yet, it’s really an opportunity instead of a problem if Cisco is doing well from a financial standpoint. 

Indeed, value seekers ought to consider it positive news that Cisco stock sank despite perfectly good financial results. Consider, for example, that Cisco grew its second-quarter fiscal 2026 revenue by 10% to $15.3 billion.

Looking ahead, Cisco’s management projects current-quarter revenue in the range of $15.4 billion to $15.6 billion. Thus, the $15.3 net revenue recorded in the second fiscal quarter probably wasn’t just a fluke.

Turning to the bottom-line results, Cisco’s Q2 FY2026 non-GAAP net income increased 10% year over year to $4.1 billion. It looks even better if we use GAAP measurements and then observe that Cisco’s net income grew 31% to $3.2 billion.

There’s nothing objectionable in Cisco’s headline numbers, so it’s the bears’ burden to explain why CSCO stock shouldn’t at least hit $150 in five years. Moreover, Cisco is upping the ante in AI integration with its recent acquisitions of enterprise AI platform company NeuralFabric Corp. and AI software business EzDubs, Inc.

Remember, the market will find excuses to rotate out of stocks temporarily even if the companies are in good shape. Technology stocks have been shaky lately, but that’s not a Cisco-specific problem. If and when the market collectively decides to buy NASDAQ 100 stocks again, Cisco stock should move higher.

Keep Tabs on Cisco’s Expenditures

If there’s a topic that investors ought to pay more attention to, it’s financial outlays. Too much time is spent on revenue growth and not enough is spent on cost controls.

We can use Cisco’s Q2 FY2026 data as an example of what investors need to keep tabs on. Sure, Cisco’s revenue and income grew substantially on a year-over-year basis, but it’s important to watch out for what I call “expenses creep.” 

In this day and age, technology firms’ financial outlays on AI technology continue to creep higher, quarter after quarter and year after year. That’s fine as long as revenue growth continues at its current pace for these companies.

Checking in on Cisco during the second quarter of fiscal 2026, the company’s GAAP operating expenses increased 3% year over year to $6.2 billion. On a non-GAAP basis, those expenses grew 6% to $5 billion.

This isn’t a cause for panic right now, but it’s definitely something to monitor closely. If Cisco starts to creep up its expenditures into the double digits, the shareholders should call for better fiscal discipline.

So, feel free to keep track of Cisco’s operating expenses to make sure that the AI arms race isn’t too costly for this company. That said, the upside potential remains strong for CSCO stock and unless circumstances change drastically, a five-year price target of $150 is absolutely attainable.