What's good for Cisco is good for Broadcom. 3 reasons both stocks are soaring

Cisco investors aren't the only victors from the network company's blowout earnings on Wednesday night: Broadcom shareholders also picked up a win. Shares of Cisco surged 15% on Thursday to a new record high, after posting results and guidance that topped Wall Street's expectations. More importantly, the report highlighted the rising demand for networking solutions tied to the AI data center buildout. Cisco said it has received $5.3 billion in artificial intelligence infrastructure and hyperscaler orders so far this year, and raised its expected orders for the fiscal year to $9 billion, up from $5 billion. Those positive vibes extended to Broadcom , which jumped more than 5% and also hit a new high. Broadcom is known for designing custom AI chips for hyperscalers such as Alphabet and Meta . But it also has a robust networking business that should benefit from this wave of AI spending. In fact, Wells Fargo analysts raised Broadcom's price target to $545 a share from $430 Thursday, saying the company's AI networking momentum is "underappreciated and a source of upside." "It feels like there's a bit of a networking super cycle that we're entering right now," Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins told Jim Cramer Thursday morning on CNBC, adding that years before the AI boom, many doubted the future value of networking solutions and hardware. But today, networking equipment is critical to directing traffic in data centers . …