Cisco (CSCO-Q)

Was upgraded today. Customers are cutting budgets short term, but a company can't have AI without investing. Cisco will come out with AI-specific products. So, focus on their long term. Short term is not great at 2% earnings growth then 6% in 2025 then 2026. Trades at 13x PE. She will hold it forever.

Building a base on the stock at current price range. Expecting stock to be a good place to hide if/when markets fall. 3-4% dividend very good for investors. Expecting high stock price going forward. 

It's a show-me story. He thinks Splunk can reignite earnings. Ex-Splunk, Cisco has been dull with tech spending going into AI. It depends on Splunk.

He likes the Splunk deal, and the stock pays a 3% dividend.

Business doesn't have A.I. tech, but management team and balance sheet are strong. Overall, a decent company. Demand for hardware still strong. 

King of networking, feeds into AI. Legacy tech still being lugged around. Beat on top and bottom, cut guidance, layoffs. Market's lowered expectations. Price target of $50, not much left.

It reports later today and he's nervous. Has bad news been priced in? Probably. The last report wasn't good and last week they announced staff cuts, which you don't do if you're in a position of strength. Trades at 12.5x forward PE and pays a 3.5% dividend as estimates have declined since the last quarter. A consistent company, but there's still room for downside.

It reports later today. Trades at 12.6x PE. Will they announce more cost cuts and layoffs? She doesn't feel good about earnings today. At least shares haven't run up before the report. They're spending more on AI than their network, so their growth isn't linear. You can hold this for a long time, but there will be fits and starts.

They gave poor guidance last quarter over fears that AI will take revenues from tech budgets. But this week they partnered with Nvidia. He wants to hear them talk about that next week on the investor call. There's a chance for them to get back on their feet. Their next quarter is make or break. The new Nvidia partnership is important.

Buying Splunk means there's an excess of employees. 50% of free cash flow will buyback shares and raise the dividend. There's still $10 billion of buybacks to come. He doesn't expect much next week with their earnings, but still likes it long term.

Once a tech darling, but has fallen from grace as innovation slowed and is not growing as fast as its peers (Juniper Networks, Arista). It's been rangebound the past decade and pays around a 3% dividend. Despite that, there are better ideas. Are growing earnings at only 7% compound.

Transitioning from router hardware to software and services, as revenues are recurring with higher margins. A pass, as current environment will impact companies' capital spending. Hardware still majority of its business. New acquisition may make revenue less cyclical.

A few weeks ago, it gave disappointing guidance, so shares declined. Now that the reset is done, shares are rebounding with nice momentum. This remains a steady-eddy dividend payer.

It's over its skiis, overpaying for cybersecurity assets, so he sold it. It's a great name, but he see better earnings elsewhere in tech.

Wait two quarters before this shows decent growth, though some investors may not wait that long.