Morgan Stanley 1Q26 CIO Survey Takeaways: Cisco Systems Inc
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Morgan Stanley's first-quarter 2026 CIO survey delivers a highly positive read-through for Cisco Systems (CSCO.O), reinforcing its Overweight rating and a 12-month target price of $91.00. The results indicate that networking equipment is gaining both priority and defensive characteristics within corporate IT budgets.
Cisco emerged as the strongest performer regarding three-year spending intentions. A net 57% of CIOs expect to increase their spending with the vendor, a dramatic improvement from the 25% recorded in the third quarter of 2025. This broad-based recovery is evident across multiple domains. Campus switching spending intentions improved to a net positive 33%, while data center sentiment surged to a net 55%. Furthermore, 68% of existing Cisco customers who have already deployed the company's data center solutions plan to expand their implementations.
Security remains the top networking priority, driving 31% of current budget allocations. Cisco's positioning in this space has notably strengthened. The net proportion of respondents indicating that security features influence their Cisco purchasing decisions doubled from 25% to 48%. Additionally, 57% of CIOs who evaluated Cisco's new security products expressed a willingness to buy.
The integration of Splunk continues to receive constructive feedback, with 85% of Splunk customers viewing the acquisition favorably. Although pricing pressures and order pull-forwards remain areas to monitor, macroeconomic headwinds are easing. The percentage of CIOs reporting project cancellations or delays dropped significantly from 41% to 27%.