Cisco Stock Slips as Tech Giant Fails to Meet Sector Rivals

Cisco Systems Inc., a San Jose, California-based tech giant, has been dominating the communication equipment industry for years. With a market cap of $433.3 billion, it is considered a mega-cap stock and one of the largest in its sector.

In recent months, however, Cisco's stock performance has been somewhat lackluster. The company's shares have slipped 15.5% from their 52-week high of $130.37, achieved on June 4. Over the past three months, CSCO stock declined 7.9%, underperforming the iShares U.S. Telecommunications ETF's (IYZ) 3.3% dip during the same time frame.

Cisco has been trading above its 200-day moving average over the past year but below its 50-day moving average since mid-August. Despite this, the company has seen significant growth in AI-related orders, which reached $4 billion in Q4 and marked an eighth straight quarter of double-digit networking growth.

The company's adjusted EPS of $1.22 beat Wall Street expectations of $1.17 in its Q4 results. Revenue was also higher than expected at $17.3 billion. Cisco expects full-year adjusted EPS to be between $5.05 and $5.11, with revenue ranging from $72.2 billion to $73.4 billion.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (HPE) has taken the lead over CSCO in recent months, showing resilience with a 119.7% uptick on a YTD basis and solid 127.8% gains over the past 52 weeks.