NEW YORK, February 17, 2026, 11:02 AM EST — Regular session underway
- Cisco stock edges 0.2% higher late in the morning, trading close to $77.
- Margin pressure from rising memory costs remains top of mind for investors.
- Company’s AI networking angle isn’t fading, especially with a fresh pitch for its latest data-center chip.
Cisco Systems stock edged up 0.2% to $76.98 as of 10:50 a.m. EST this day, having earlier peaked at $77.54.
The stock’s been searching for some stability since last week’s tumble, when Cisco’s slump turned it into a major drag on the Dow.
The reason? Cisco stands out as a bellwether for corporate network budgets. Traders have been watching its reports closely, trying to figure out if the AI boom is actually driving hardware demand—or simply inflating expenses.
Right now, the spotlight’s on gross margin—that slice of profit after covering goods costs. Cisco, according to Reuters, pointed to pricier memory chips as a major factor squeezing those margins.
Cisco last week posted a quarterly revenue climb to $15.3 billion, even as its non-GAAP gross margin slipped to 67.5%. For this quarter, the company is guiding for a non-GAAP gross margin between 65.5% and 66.5%. The tech giant revealed $2.1 billion in AI infrastructure orders from hyperscalers, marking a significant win with major cloud players. Cisco also bumped up its quarterly dividend to $0.42 per share.
Cisco rolled out its latest Silicon One G300 chip for AI data centers and related infrastructure, according to a Feb. 16 press release. “We are spearheading performance, manageability, and security in AI networking,” said Jeetu Patel, Cisco’s president and chief product officer. TradingView
Barclays analysts flagged the unexpected shift in costs, admitting, “We did not think memory would have had this level of weakness.” Investing
Investors are eyeing peers, and Arista Networks has stood out—its latest reports point to more stable demand and margins.
The risk is clear: memory costs that remain elevated beyond Cisco’s estimates, or pushback from customers on price hikes, could keep margins under strain, even if orders don’t slip.
Dividend-minded investors have their eyes on Cisco’s next $0.42 per share quarterly payout, with the ex-dividend date hitting in early April.
Traders are looking for new details on AI networking demand and what’s happening with component costs at industry gatherings like NVIDIA GTC (March 16–19) and the RSA Conference (March 23–26).
