Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) shares declined on Wednesday as investors reassessed the company’s ambitious artificial intelligence growth outlook ahead of its upcoming earnings report. The stock dropped 4.5% during the session to around $111.78, erasing roughly $21 billion in market value as traders focused on whether Cisco can deliver enough AI infrastructure orders in the final quarter of its fiscal year.
The decline comes despite continued optimism surrounding AI infrastructure spending, suggesting investors are becoming increasingly selective about companies expected to benefit from the industry’s rapid expansion.
Cisco has positioned itself as a major supplier of networking equipment powering AI data centers, particularly for hyperscale cloud providers. Through the first three quarters of fiscal 2026, the company reported approximately $5.3 billion in AI infrastructure orders from these customers.
To achieve its revised full-year goal of $9 billion, Cisco now needs to generate roughly $3.7 billion in AI orders during the fourth quarter alone. That figure represents nearly twice the volume recorded in the previous quarter, making the upcoming reporting period particularly important for investors.
Management increased its AI expectations earlier this year, raising both its AI order target and projected AI-related revenue following stronger-than-expected customer demand. However, the larger target has also increased expectations, leaving less room for execution disappointments.
Cisco was not alone in Wednesday’s selloff. Other companies exposed to AI networking infrastructure also experienced notable declines as investors reduced exposure across the sector.
Arista Networks lost more than 7%, while Hewlett Packard Enterprise also fell around 7%. The broader technology sector traded lower despite relatively stable major U.S. indexes, indicating that selling pressure was concentrated within AI hardware companies rather than the overall market.
Interestingly, the weakness occurred even after IBM highlighted increasing enterprise spending on servers, networking equipment, storage, and memory infrastructure. That commentary reinforced the view that AI-related capital spending remains healthy.
Instead, investors appeared more focused on whether hardware vendors can successfully convert strong demand into profitable revenue while managing rising component costs.
Although AI demand continues to accelerate, Cisco faces profitability challenges that extend beyond order growth.
The company’s adjusted product gross margin declined during the latest quarter as higher memory costs and changing product mix weighed on profitability. At the same time, operating cash flow also softened as Cisco increased investments to support expanding AI infrastructure demand.
Industry analysts continue to warn that supply constraints in DRAM memory could remain a challenge for server manufacturers and networking suppliers over the coming years. If component shortages persist, hardware companies may continue facing elevated production costs even as customer demand remains robust.
Those cost pressures could make it more difficult for Cisco to translate record AI sales into stronger earnings growth.
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