Cisco

These changes use selected original filing passages and nearby context from the stated five fiscal years. They are not an exhaustive review of all five reports and exclude later-year filings.

• Software growth

  This comparison uses selected original report blocks and neighboring context, not an exhaustive review of all five reports. Cisco reported total software revenue across product areas and services of $15.1 billion in FY2022, $17.0 billion in FY2023, $18.4 billion in FY2024, $22.3 billion in FY2025 and $23.2 billion in FY2026. Cisco completed its Splunk acquisition on March 18, 2024. FY2025 included a full year of Splunk's results, compared with approximately four months in FY2024. Cisco attributed the software revenue increases in FY2024 and FY2025 to Splunk's contribution; these figures therefore do not describe growth on an unchanged business scope.

  Source: 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026

• Supply commitments

  In FY2022, Cisco reported component shortages that extended delivery lead times and raised supply-chain costs. It reported an overall improvement in supply constraints in FY2023. In FY2025, Cisco entered additional purchase commitments—agreements to buy from manufacturers and suppliers—for Cisco Silicon One and other products to meet demand from webscale customers (large internet and cloud service providers) and other customers. Inventory purchase commitments were $7,599 million at July 26, 2025 and $17,165 million at July 25, 2026. The FY2026 report also warned that hyperscalers (very large cloud service providers) or other large customers could change orders with limited notice, potentially leaving supplier prepayments or deposits partly unrecoverable if related orders were not fulfilled. This was a conditional risk, not a statement that those losses had occurred.

  Source: 2022, 2023, 2025, 2026

These changes use selected original filing passages and nearby context from the stated five fiscal years. They are not an exhaustive review of all five reports and exclude later-year filings.

• Supply commitments

  Cisco increased inventory and purchase commitments in fiscal 2021 amid component shortages caused partly by COVID-19. It reported an overall easing of supply constraints in fiscal 2023. In fiscal 2025, however, Cisco entered additional purchase commitments for manufacturing Cisco Silicon One and other products to meet demand from webscale customers (large internet and cloud service providers) and other customers; further commitments in fiscal 2026 remained an expectation. Cisco warned that sustained, significant demand declines could lead to material charges for excess or obsolete inventory. Separately, on August 26, 2025, after fiscal year-end, Cisco settled a supplier dispute over purchase obligations under earlier long-term supply arrangements. It recorded an approximately $355 million charge to product cost of sales in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025. The settlement is not described here as a finding of wrongdoing. This comparison uses selected original passages and neighboring context, not an exhaustive review of the five reports.

  Source: 2021, 2023, 2025

• Software and Splunk

  Cisco reported total software revenue across product areas and services of $15.1 billion in fiscal 2022 and $17.0 billion in fiscal 2023. It completed its acquisition of Splunk, a cybersecurity and observability company, on March 18, 2024; observability involves monitoring technology systems to understand their operation. Total software revenue reached $18.4 billion in fiscal 2024, with Cisco attributing the reported 9% growth to Splunk's contribution. In fiscal 2025, total software revenue was $22.3 billion, with the reported 21% growth also attributed to Splunk's contribution. The comparison includes a full year of Splunk's results in fiscal 2025 versus approximately four months in fiscal 2024, so it should not be read as growth solely from Cisco's pre-acquisition business.

  Source: 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025

These changes use selected original filing passages and nearby context from the stated five fiscal years. They are not an exhaustive review of all five reports and exclude later-year filings.

• Acacia and Splunk

  This comparison uses selected original blocks and neighboring context from fiscal 2020–2024, not an exhaustive review of the five reports. Cisco's fiscal 2020 report listed Acacia as a pending acquisition, expected to close in the first half of fiscal 2021 subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. Cisco completed that acquisition on March 1, 2021. Acacia develops high-speed optical interconnect products for communications networks. On March 18, 2024, Cisco completed its acquisition of Splunk, a cybersecurity and observability company. Observability means monitoring how technology systems perform. Cisco's fiscal 2024 results included approximately $1.4 billion in revenue and a $557 million net loss attributable to Splunk since the acquisition date, not a full year of Splunk results.

  Source: 2020, 2021, 2024

• Supply response and risk

  Cisco increased inventory and purchase commitments in fiscal 2021 amid component shortages. In fiscal 2022, its responses included modifying product designs to use alternate suppliers where possible. In fiscal 2023, supply constraints eased and Cisco increased product deliveries, but product demand declined. Its fiscal 2024 report said earlier supply constraints had left inventory supply-chain balances above historical levels and increased exposure that had hurt product gross margin—the share of product revenue remaining after product costs. Further material excess or obsolete inventory charges remained a conditional risk if demand fell significantly for a sustained period, Cisco could not generate demand for certain planned products, or it could not reduce remaining supply-chain exposure.

  Source: 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024

These changes use selected original filing passages and nearby context from the stated five fiscal years. They are not an exhaustive review of all five reports and exclude later-year filings.

• Remaining obligations

  Cisco's remaining performance obligations—deferred revenue plus unbilled contract revenue, representing contracted amounts not yet recognized as revenue—were $25.3 billion at July 27, 2019. Cisco reported annual increases of 12% in FY2020, 9% in FY2021, 2% in FY2022 and 11% in FY2023. The total reached $34,868 million at July 29, 2023. These balances should not be read as revenue recognized during those years.

  Source: 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023

• Supply constraints

  In FY2021, Cisco increased inventory and purchase commitments in response to supply-chain challenges. In FY2023, Cisco reported an overall easing of supply constraints that allowed more product deliveries and supported product revenue, even as product demand declined. The easing did not remove the inventory risk: Cisco warned that remaining supply-chain exposure could cause material charges for excess or obsolete inventory if product demand decreased significantly for a sustained period or Cisco could not continue mitigating that exposure.

  Source: 2021, 2023

These changes use selected original filing passages and nearby context from the stated five fiscal years. They are not an exhaustive review of all five reports and exclude later-year filings.

• Distributor revenue

  In FY2018, Cisco recognized revenue from two-tier distributors using sell-through: sales information reported by distributors determined recognition. In FY2019, it adopted ASC 606, the customer-contract revenue accounting standard, and switched to sell-in, recognizing sales to distributors rather than waiting for their onward sales. The FY2022 report still described the sell-in method.

  Source: 2018, 2019, 2022

• Acacia acquisition

  Cisco announced its intention to acquire Acacia Communications on July 9, 2019. Its FY2020 report still described completion as expected in the first half of FY2021, subject to closing conditions and regulatory approvals. The FY2021 report recorded completion on March 1, 2021. Acacia revenue appeared in Infrastructure Platforms in that report and in Internet for the Future in the FY2022 report; these are the respective reported product categories.

  Source: 2020, 2021, 2022

• Supply exposure

  In the second half of FY2020, Cisco incurred additional logistics costs, including freight, because of COVID-19. By FY2022, it reported increasing inventory balances, purchase commitments, and supplier deposits and prepayments to secure supply for customer demand. Cisco warned that these actions significantly increased the risk of future losses from excess or obsolete inventory if customer demand suddenly and significantly decreased; it did not describe those conditional losses as already incurred.

  Source: 2020, 2022