Cisco Systems reported first-quarter fiscal 2027 revenue and earnings above Wall Street forecasts on Wednesday and raised its full-year outlook. The San Jose company said demand for AI networking equipment from hyperscale cloud operators drove the gains. Revenue topped $15.8bn, up from $14.9bn a year earlier.

The company said orders for AI infrastructure from webscale customers grew sharply again in the quarter ended in late October. A year ago Cisco reported $1.3bn of such orders in a single quarter. It has since repeatedly raised its targets for AI-related bookings as Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon and Meta expand data-centre capacity. Adjusted earnings per share also beat the consensus compiled by LSEG.

Chief executive Chuck Robbins told analysts that a multi-year refresh of campus networking equipment was adding to the AI tailwind. Chief financial officer Mark Patterson said Cisco had lifted its revenue and earnings guidance for the fiscal year ending in July 2027. He said gross margins held up despite higher memory-chip costs and US tariffs on imported components.

The results arrived at a fragile moment for technology stocks. Nvidia lost roughly $300bn in market value earlier this week amid turmoil over its leadership, and investors have questioned how long AI capital spending can keep climbing. Cisco shares rose in after-hours trading on the Nasdaq following the release.

Analysts at Wall Street brokerages have increasingly cast Cisco as a beneficiary of the AI buildout that carries less concentration risk than chipmakers. The company sells Ethernet switches, its own Silicon One chips and optical gear into data centres. That broad exposure has helped its shares outperform many hardware peers during 2026.