CiscoCSCOTOP PICKAug 13, 2015Stock 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.
There are a lot of technology companies that people are calling the end of the world and how you run a business no longer applies in this new age. There was always that fear with this company in “software defined networking” and pretty much commoditization of what this company is doing. Have been through a number of cycles and were very aggressive to get ahead of the curve by cutting costs on their legacy business and reinvesting into the stuff they needed to. Growth rates have been very, very strong over the last few quarters. This is a true value play and there is quite a bit of upside as those fears continue to come down. Dividend yield of 2.93%.