Cisco's AI reinvention

Earlier this week, options traders started making bullish bets on Cisco meme-mania-style, anticipating a strong earnings report on the heels of its AI-fueled comeback strategy. It turns out the retail crowd’s instincts were on the money: Cisco popped 13.41% today after the company reported a stellar Q1:

• The company beat top and bottom line expectations.
• AI infrastructure and hyperscaler orders surged past projections, helping raise full-year order forecasts from $5 billion to $9 billion.
• Management emphasized that the forecast hike was due to booming hyperscaler demand that shows no signs of stopping.

Zoom out: The dot-com-era darling became the world’s most valuable company in 2000 by selling internet routers and switches. Shares plunged after the bubble burst, but like many old tech giants looking to learn new tricks, it’s following the AI zeitgeist by becoming a—you guessed it—datacenter infrastructure provider. The stock finally caught up to its millenium-era high in December, and has jumped 49.98% in 2026.

The AI race is a marathon

Cisco isn’t the only legacy tech company that’s getting an AI-era makeover. Intel also surpassed its pre-crash dot-com high last month as it embraced the cash cow that is AI chips. Then there’s Corning, which has revived itself as an AI infrastructure darling.

For those of you who were around for the dot-com crash, the resurgence of these three names may remind you of a film you’ve seen before—and don’t want to watch again. After all, there are plenty of parallels between today’s market and the dot-com boom: New technology is promising to be transformational for the economy, tech companies are leading the broader market’s bull market, and valuations have reached eye-popping levels.

Yet most analysts aren’t warning of a crash, at least not yet: “We view the AI cycle as durable for the foreseeable future and expect sustained strong orders and accelerating revenue to drive further stock appreciation,” wrote Bank of America research analyst Tal Liani in a note today.—LB