New York, Feb 27, 2026, 19:19 EST — Trading after the close.
- Cisco closed up 1.74% at $79.46 on Friday, outperforming the broader market’s decline.
- Cybersecurity agencies flagged ongoing attacks targeting a serious vulnerability in Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN, a flaw revealed earlier this week.
- Cisco has scheduled a series of investor events for early March, kicking off with a fireside chat hosted by Morgan Stanley TMT on March 5
Cisco Systems Inc (CSCO.O) ended Friday up 1.74% at $79.46, bucking the drop in the broader U.S. market as investors sorted through fresh risk alerts and short-term events on the calendar. 1
The stock’s rebound coincides with a scramble among network security teams, who are racing to patch a major vulnerability in Cisco’s software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) systems—a backbone for linking remote offices and long-haul routes at many big firms. According to a joint cybersecurity bulletin, attackers have been going after SD-WANs “globally” by taking advantage of an authentication bypass flaw, identified as CVE-2026-20127.
Cisco on Friday told investors it plans to join multiple March events with the financial community, listing meetings tied to Mobile World Congress plus a slate of conferences across the U.S. and Europe. According to the company, those events won’t include any fresh financial updates. Still, senior executives will be back engaging with investors—this comes shortly after a string of security warnings. 2
Roughly 27.46 million Cisco shares traded Friday, Yahoo Finance’s session data shows. Activity was brisk. 3
Cisco’s Talos intelligence group flagged ongoing exploitation of the “UAT-8616” vulnerability, saying it has traced evidence of related activity stretching back at least three years, to 2023. According to the report, attackers are able to sidestep authentication and grab admin-level access just by firing a specially crafted request at vulnerable devices. 4
Tenable is pushing for rapid action. “Immediate patching is recommended to thwart ongoing attacks,” Scott Caveza wrote at Tenable. Patches are already out, and Caveza notes there are “no workarounds currently available,” the firm’s summary of Cisco’s advisory says. 5
Rapid7 pointed out that the U.S. cybersecurity agency CISA called for federal civilian agencies to apply patches by 5:00 p.m. ET on Friday, Feb. 27. The company’s update also highlighted Cisco’s advice: shift impacted systems to fixed releases. Cisco put a patch for one key version line on track for Feb. 27, according to its estimates. 6
Cisco’s next appearance comes March 5: CFO Mark Patterson and Common Hardware Group chief Martin Lund are slated for a fireside chat at the Morgan Stanley TMT Conference, per the company’s event page. 7
Tech and networking stocks may end up taking their cues from the macro backdrop. Watch for the February U.S. jobs report, due Friday, March 6 at 8:30 a.m. ET—a figure that frequently jolts Treasury yields and, in turn, large-cap tech valuations. 8
The risk here is clear enough: more victims come forward, or customers start noticing disruptions linked to patching or cleanup, and suddenly the focus pivots from just “patch now” to the bigger question—what did it cost? These kinds of security events can also bog down sales cycles, especially for edge-of-network hardware where buyers might push for extra scrutiny before signing off.
Cisco heads into the weekend trading close to $79.46, with investors juggling security momentum and the upcoming conference lineup. When markets open Monday, traders will be watching to see if the stock can keep Friday’s gains intact. Next up: the March 5 Morgan Stanley session, where, while Cisco has stated no new financials are coming, any added commentary could still move the needle.
