CSCO Stock -- What's In It For Investors?

Today we're going to take a closer look at large-cap Telecommunications company Cisco Systems, whose shares are currently trading at $52.49. We've been asking ourselves whether the company is under or over valued at today's prices... let's perform a brief value analysis to find out!

Cisco Systems's Valuation Is in Line With Its Sector Averages:

Cisco Systems, Inc. designs, manufactures, and sells Internet Protocol based networking and other products related to the communications and information technology industry in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, Japan, and China. The company belongs to the Telecommunications sector, which has an average price to earnings (P/E) ratio of 18.85 and an average price to book (P/B) ratio of 3.12. In contrast, Cisco Systems has a trailing 12 month P/E ratio of 17.1 and a P/B ratio of 4.81.

Cisco Systems's PEG ratio is 2.28, which shows that the stock is probably overvalued in terms of its estimated growth. For reference, a PEG ratio near or below 1 is a potential signal that a company is undervalued.

Wider Gross Margins Than the Industry Average of 53.85%:

2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Revenue (MM) $49,330 $51,904 $49,301 $49,818 $51,557 $56,998
Gross Margins 62% 63% 64% 64% 63% 63%
Operating Margins 26.0% 28.0% 28.0% 27.0% 28.0% 27.0%
Net Margins 0.0% 22.0% 23.0% 21.0% 23.0% 22.0%
Net Income (MM) $110 $11,621 $11,214 $10,591 $11,812 $12,613
Net Interest Expense (MM) $943 $859 $585 $434 $508 $427
Depreciation & Amort. (MM) $221 $150 $141 $215 $313 $282
Earnings Per Share $0.02 $2.61 $2.64 $2.5 $2.82 $3.07
Diluted Shares (MM) 4,881 4,453 4,254 4,236 4,192 4,105
Free Cash Flow (MM) $12,832 $14,922 $14,656 $14,762 $12,749 $19,037
Capital Expenditures (MM) $834 $909 $770 $692 $477 $849
Net Current Assets (MM) -$5,895 -$16,353 -$13,857 -$15,692 -$16,641 -$14,151
Long Term Debt (MM) $8,998 $5,563 $778 $443 $7,629 $827
Net Debt / EBITDA -2.13 -2.37 -0.36 -1.59 -0.65 -1.45

Cisco Systems has strong margins with a stable trend and exceptional EPS growth. Additionally, the company's financial statements display low leverage and wider gross margins than its peer group. Furthermore, Cisco Systems has weak revenue growth and a flat capital expenditure trend and irregular cash flows.

The above analysis is intended for educational purposes only and was performed on the basis of publicly available data. It is not to be construed as a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Any buy, sell, or other recommendations mentioned in the article are direct quotations of consensus recommendations from the analysts covering the stock, and do not represent the opinions of Market Inference or its writers. Past performance, accounting data, and inferences about market position and corporate valuation are not reliable indicators of future price movements. Market Inference does not provide financial advice. Investors should conduct their own review and analysis of any company of interest before making an investment decision.

IN FOCUS