Is CSCO a high-quality business?

AlphaMadera's AlphaQuality grade scores Cisco Systems, Inc. on six pillars — profitability, capital efficiency, balance-sheet strength, growth durability, cash generation, and shareholder yield. The composite letter grade reflects how CSCO compares to a Buffett-style quality bar.

What is Cisco Systems, Inc.'s AlphaQuality grade?

AlphaQuality assigns a letter grade (A through F) to CSCO based on a six-pillar quantitative model. The live page shows the composite grade plus each pillar's individual score with the underlying metrics.

What makes CSCO a quality stock?

AlphaQuality looks at return on capital, free-cash-flow margins, debt-to-equity, revenue stability, dividend and buyback policy, and operating-margin trend. Stocks scoring well across all six pillars earn higher grades — the methodology favors compounders over cyclicals.

CSCO - Cisco Systems, Inc.

Price: -- -- | CONSENSUS: Buy DETAILS | PRICE TARGET: $122.30 DETAILS

AlphaQuality

Quantitative six-pillar business-quality grade

Stable Earnings Power

AlphaQuality — archetype-weighted quantitative grade

B 74.7 / 100 composite

Composite Grade

Composite of six pillars weighted for stable earnings power businesses. Purely quantitative — no stock price or analyst input.

Profitability

Weight: 20%

B- 62.9

5yr Avg ROIC 17.1% 85/100
Operating Margin Trend -1.45 pp/yr 11/100

Capital Efficiency

Weight: 15%

A 92.8

5yr Avg ROE 23.7% 98/100
5yr Share-Count CAGR -1.4% 83/100

Growth Quality

Weight: 15%

C- 45.3

5yr Revenue CAGR 3.3% 47/100
5yr EPS CAGR 0.5% 23/100
Revenue-Growth Years (5) 4/5 80/100

Cash Generation

Weight: 15%

A+ 95.9

5yr FCF Margin 26.0% 96/100
5yr FCF/NI Conversion 1.26x 96/100

Balance Sheet

Weight: 20%

A- 86.6

Net Debt / EBITDA 0.78x 87/100
Interest Coverage (EBIT/Int) 7.86x 76/100
Altman Z-Score 4.52 98/100

Stability

Weight: 15%

B- 64.5

EPS Volatility (σ/μ) 0.37 47/100
Piotroski F-Score 7 78/100
Negative-Revenue Years (5) 1/5 80/100

4 of 4 gurus held; 4 added.

Holders: 4
Avg Δ position: +340.9%
New buys: 0
Full exits: 0

Wood increased +1169%
Cooperman increased +103%
Dalio increased +78%

How this is calculated

AlphaQuality grades six pillars from 0-100 and weights each by archetype:

Profitability (20%) — 5yr Avg ROIC, Operating Margin Trend
Capital Efficiency (15%) — 5yr Avg ROE, 5yr Share-Count CAGR
Growth Quality (15%) — 5yr Revenue CAGR, 5yr EPS CAGR, Revenue-Growth Years (5)
Cash Generation (15%) — 5yr FCF Margin, 5yr FCF/NI Conversion
Balance Sheet (20%) — Net Debt / EBITDA, Interest Coverage (EBIT/Int), Altman Z-Score
Stability (15%) — EPS Volatility (σ/μ), Piotroski F-Score, Negative-Revenue Years (5)

We deliberately ignore stock price, analyst targets, and consensus ratings so the grade is suitable for backtesting forward returns. A minimum of 5 fiscal years of audited statements is required; distressed and highly leveraged infrastructure businesses are declared ungradable rather than forced into a numeric score.