Cisco (CSCO) Stock: Reaches New All-Time High, Ending a 25-Year Wait

TLDR

• Cisco stock hit $80.25 on Wednesday, surpassing its previous record of $80.06 from March 27, 2000
• Shares are up 36% in 2025, marking the best yearly performance since 2009
• The company reported $1.3 billion in AI infrastructure orders from large web companies in November
• Cisco’s current market cap is $317 billion, making it the 13th most valuable U.S. tech company
• The stock now trades at 19 times forward earnings, compared to 96.7 times in late 1999

Cisco Systems stock closed at a record high on Wednesday for the first time in 25 years. The networking equipment maker finally topped its dot-com era peak.

Shares rose 0.9% to $80.25, edging past the previous record of $80.06 set on March 27, 2000. That same day, Cisco briefly became the most valuable publicly traded company in the world, overtaking Microsoft.

Cisco Systems, Inc., CSCO

The company’s stock has climbed 36% so far in 2025. This marks Cisco’s best year-to-date performance through December 10 since 2009, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

Back in early 2000, Cisco was at the center of the internet boom. Companies rushing to get online depended on the company’s switches and routers as the backbone of their networks.

But the dot-com bubble burst shortly after Cisco reached its peak. The collapse wiped out more than three-quarters of the Nasdaq’s value by October 2002.

Unlike many internet companies that disappeared, Cisco survived. The company diversified through acquisitions, buying set-top box maker Scientific-Atlanta in 2006, along with software companies including Webex, AppDynamics, Duo and Splunk.

Trading at Reasonable Valuations

The current environment differs from the dot-com era in key ways. At the end of 1999, Cisco traded at 96.7 times forward earnings.

Oracle traded at 92.1 times forward earnings. eBay commanded a valuation of 351.7 times forward earnings.

Today, Cisco trades at 19 times earnings expected over the next 12 months. The more reasonable valuation suggests a different market dynamic than the late 1990s.

Some Wall Street analysts worry about a new bubble forming around AI stocks. But the valuation levels don’t match the dot-com era excesses.

Finding Its Place in the AI Boom

Cisco’s market cap now stands at $317 billion. That makes it only the 13th most valuable U.S. tech company.

The company has lagged behind the tech megacaps that dominate the AI boom. Nvidia has become the modern infrastructure winner with its AI chips at the heart of model development.

Nvidia’s market cap sits at $4.5 trillion, roughly 14 times Cisco’s current value. But Cisco is working to capture its share of AI spending.

CEO Chuck Robbins reported $1.3 billion in AI infrastructure orders from large web companies in November. The company’s networking segment, which includes gear used in AI data centers, has grown as enterprise demand rises.

Total revenue approached $15 billion, up 7.5% year over year. That growth rate compares to 66% growth in 2000.

Cisco’s networking equipment serves AI data centers that companies are building out. The stock has outperformed the Nasdaq in 2025, which has gained about 22% over the same period.

The company received AI infrastructure orders totaling $1.3 billion in the most recent quarter from large web companies.

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