1. AI infrastructure orders skyrocket to $9 billion for FY26
Cisco significantly raised its AI infrastructure order expectations for hyperscalers to $9 billion for fiscal year 2026, nearly double the company’s previous $5 billion forecast. The company took in $1.9 billion in AI infrastructure orders from hyperscalers in Q3 alone, with the year-to-date total reaching $5.3 billion before entering the final quarter. (Related story: Cisco announced layoffs along with its Q3 results)
“Given the strong demand, we now expect to take AI infrastructure orders of approximately $9 billion from hyperscalers in FY ’26, 4.5x our FY ’25 total,” Robbins announced on the earnings call. This explosive growth is driven by both Silicon One systems and Acacia coherent pluggable optics. The Acacia business posted its strongest quarter ever, with over $1 billion in orders, and is tracking to grow over 200% year-over-year.
Cisco secured five new hyperscaler design wins in Q3, including the company’s first two wins for Silicon One P200-powered systems for “scale across” use cases. “During Q3, we were awarded two different hyperscalers’ P200 design wins, which is our product that is used for scale across applications,” Robbins said, adding that a third P200 scale-across design win came in early Q4. The company has now shipped over 750,000 400-gig and 40,000 800-gig coherent pluggable optics, which Cisco believes “far exceeds the next largest supplier shipments for both speeds.”
2. Broad-based demand drives 35% order growth
Total product orders grew an impressive 35% year-over-year, with strength across customer segments and geographies. “Overall, total product orders grew 35% year-over-year. Excluding hyperscaler orders, which grew by triple digits, product orders were up 19% year-over-year, demonstrating the continued broad-based demand we see for our technology globally,” Robbins reported.
