Cisco Systems Flags Surging AI and Campus Networking Demand as Orders Jump 18% at Morgan Stanley Confab

Cisco Systems reported an 18% jump in fiscal Q2 product orders, driven by surging demand in AI infrastructure and a multi-year campus refresh cycle. The company secured $2.1 billion in new hyperscaler orders in just 90 days, matching the previous year’s total. Despite gross margin pressures from “unprecedented” memory inflation and a hardware-heavy product mix, Cisco is implementing price increases and securing supply commitments while prioritizing profitability and aiming for EPS growth to outpace revenue.