CiscoCSCOTOP PICKJul 18, 2016Stock 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.
It is rare in technology that you are able to pick something up that is trading at 13X PE with a dividend yield of 3.48%. With people doing more and more on their mobile phones, data traffic has picked up considerably over the last decade, and he feels it is going to continue. This is a key player in helping cell phone providers stay mobile spectrum efficient. At the same time, the company has been going through a transition to get more involved into the Cloud side of things and to position themselves for the future.