CiscoCSCODON'T BUYNov 11, 2014Stock price when the opinion was issued
As of Sep 04, 2026. Market Open.
Like Apple it was sort of a sleeper last year. It sells processes and analogue chips, very different than GPU's. Is involved in networking products and services. The AI stack explosion needed their products and technology. It is fully priced according to analysts' price targets.
Kudos on that choice, because it's not been a market darling (since the dot-com bubble). Riding coattails of stronger players in the space, catching the halo effect. The old adage: "No one ever went broke taking a profit" -- good risk management.
Prefers, and owns, ANET.
Part of IT infrastructure, but $27B acquisition of Splunk really helped drive security business. Finally hit a new high (previous high was March 27, 2000). Phenomenal allocator of capital. Compelling buy. Every year, buys back stock and raises dividend.
Finally growing revenues again, he's looking for mid-high single-digit revenue growth. AI will bring a much higher recurring revenue stream. Its solutions are so embedded in businesses, he's not worried about clients trying to go it alone with AI.
A mature technology company. In their end markets, spending is not as strong and somewhat moderating their CapX spending as their networks have primarily been built out. Also, they are seeing a lot of weakness in emerging markets. Restructuring and reducing their employment base by about 8000 jobs. Trading at a relatively low multiple of 11X forward earnings and gives a pretty attractive yield, but not a lot of earnings growth. New competitors are coming in, and they are losing share.