Cisco just had a massive rally. HSBC says the stock still has momentum

Cisco is showing no signs of losing steam following its blowout fiscal third-quarter earnings report, according to HSBC. The investment bank upgraded the software name to buy from hold. It also hiked its price target on shares to $137 from $77, implying nearly 19% upside from Thursday's close. "We believe 3Q supports a thesis that Cisco's AI role is becoming structural and that AI revenue is having a larger financial impact than we had expected," analyst Stephen Bersey said in a note to clients. Shares surged 13% on Thursday following Cisco's better-than-expected report. For the quarter ended April 25, Cisco posted $1.06 per share after adjustments versus the $1.04 expected by analysts polled by LSEG. It also clocked revenue of $15.84 billion, or more than the $15.56 billion expected by the Street. CSCO YTD mountain Shares have jumped 50% in the year to date. Cisco also sees that its adjusted earnings per share would fall in the range of $1.16 to $1.18 for the fiscal fourth quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimate of $1.07 per share. Looking ahead, the biggest growth drivers for Cisco will likely be hyperscaler AI build-outs and enterprise artificial intelligence networking upgrades, in addition to campus modernization as requirements for traffic, security, and latency increase, according to HSBC. …