Cisco price target raised to $52 from $51 at Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler raised the firm’s price target on Cisco to $52 from $51 and keeps a Neutral rating on the shares. Shares are pointed about 5% higher following Q3 results that showed a relatively inline organic quarter, inline organic guide, and improving exiting demand that was evidenced by multiple lead-metrics showing upside against buyside’s expectations, the firm says. However, the organic lead metrics were not that impressive and still suggest core Networking, Security, and Collaboration weakness. Piper expects multiple debates over the coming weeks ahead of the June 4th analyst day, including around if the organic business can show normalized growth in FY25, the implied opex ramp in FY25 that points to EPS down materially, Splunk’s integration and changing competitive landscape, the organic Security trajectory, and the sustainable growth-rates and margins beyond FY25.