Rosenblatt Upgrades Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO) to Buy with $80 Target on AI-Driven Growth

We recently compiled a list of the Top 14 AI Stocks on Wall Street: News and Analyst Ratings. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) stands against the other AI stocks.

In an update on the bid by an Elon Musk-led consortium to buy the non-profit that controls OpenAI, Musk’s lawyers have reportedly stated in a court filing that they will withdraw the $97.4 billion bid if the AI startup drops its plans to become a for-profit entity.

Musk is trying hard to keep OpenAI from becoming a for-profit entity, even filing a case against Altman in August. Musk co-founded the artificial intelligence startup with Sam Altman but left the company in 2018 after a disagreement with Altman and other cofounders over OpenAI’s direction and funding.

The filing noted that Musk will withdraw the bid if the OpenAI board is “prepared to preserve the charity’s mission and stipulate to take the ‘for sale’ sign off its assets by halting its conversion. “

Otherwise, “the charity must be compensated by what an arms-length buyer will pay for its assets.”

-The filing in U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, said, as reported by Reuters.

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In its filing with the same court on Wednesday, OpenAI said that Musk’s bid to buy OpenAI contradicts the arguments he is making in court that the startup’s assets cannot be transferred for private gain. It seems to be “an improper bid to undermine a competitor.” Even though Musk seemingly wants OpenAI to retain its non-profit structure, OpenAI noted that in his bid, he wants OpenAI to be sold to himself.

“In this Court, Musk argues that OpenAI, Inc.’s assets cannot be ‘transferred away’ for ‘private gain. But out of court, those constraints evidently do not apply, so long as Musk and his allies are the buyers. Musk would have OpenAI, Inc. transfer all of its assets to him, for his economic benefit and that of his competing AI business and hand-picked private investors.”

-OpenAI said in a legal filing.

It is to be noted here that OpenAI is under no obligation to consider the bid.

“The independent Board’s sole fiduciary duty is to the mission of ensuring AGI benefits all of humanity. Respectfully, it is not up to a competitor to decide what is in the best interests of OpenAI’s mission.”

-Andrew Nussbaum, counsel to the OpenAI Board at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz.

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Cisco (CSCO) Teams Up with Mistral AI for Next-Gen Customer Experience

Engineers using the latest Cisco TelePresence technology to collaborate with colleagues around the world.

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 60

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) is an American technology company that provides information technology and networking services. On February 13, Rosenblatt analyst Mike Genovese upgraded the stock to “Buy” from Neutral with a price target of $80, up from $66. The rating, issued after the company’s earnings report yesterday, discussed positive factors related to the stock.

The analyst noted that Cisco exceeded consensus on both revenues and EPS, with an increase in revenues of 9% year-over-year to $14.0B and an EPS of 94c (up 8%). The analyst further highlighted that Cisco deserves multiple expansion due to growth in software subscriptions and also because artificial intelligence is driving more of Cisco’s total business. In Q2, AI infrastructure orders with Web Scalers were more than $350M, which brought the year-to-date total to $700M.  This puts the company on track to exceed $1B of AI infrastructure orders in FY25.

“Other positives, supporting the upgrade, were triple-digit growth Y/Y in Web Scale orders and greater than 20% growth in Telco orders. Security revenues and orders more than doubled year-over-year. Cisco said it starting to see AI orders from Enterprise customers.”

Overall CSCO ranks 13th on our list of AI stocks that are trending on Wall Street. While we acknowledge the potential of CSCO as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than CSCO but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.