Cisco Plans 4,000 Job Cuts, Forecasts $16.7–$16.9B Q4 Sales and $9B AI Orders
CSCO•Cisco Systems forecast fiscal Q4 revenue of $16.7–$16.9 billion, topping analysts’ $15.8 billion estimate, and unveiled cuts of fewer than 4,000 jobs (under 5% of staff) to sharpen its AI focus. The company raised fiscal 2026 hyperscaler order expectations to $9 billion from $5 billion, driven by accelerating data center demand.
1. Sales Forecast Exceeds Estimates
Cisco projected $16.7 billion to $16.9 billion in fiscal Q4 revenue, surpassing the $15.8 billion consensus. Strong demand for data center networking equipment underlies the beat and signals momentum into the new fiscal year.
2. AI-Focused Restructuring Plan
The company will eliminate fewer than 4,000 positions—less than 5% of its global workforce—to reallocate resources toward AI infrastructure, silicon, fiber optics and security. These actions will incur up to $1 billion in severance and related charges.
3. Hyperscaler Orders Surge
Fiscal 2026 orders from hyperscalers are now seen at $9 billion, up from a prior $5 billion target. This revision reflects accelerating spending by large cloud and data center operators on high-speed networking and AI-capable hardware.
