C

Cisco Systems, Inc. — Earnings Quality Grade C

CSCO · Technology

Some red flags

Revenue
$56.7B
2025
Net Income
$10.2B
2025
Gross Margin
64.9%
Free Cash Flow
$13.3B
01

Screening Summary

14
Passed
2
Watch
1
Failed
-2.63
M-Score

Management Signals

View all →
Watch2026-05-01
Nichlas A. Fink · Chief Accounting OfficerAppointment
Accounting change at Grade C company
SEC
Watch2026-04-06
Daniel H. Schulman · Chief Executive OfficerResignation
CEO change at Grade C company
SEC
Routine2026-04-06
Peter A. Shimer · BoardAppointment
Standard appointment
SEC
View management analysis in CSCO deep report →

Source: SEC EDGAR 8-K Item 5.02, with exhibit links when available

02

Financial Trends

Revenue & Net Income ($B)

Margins (%)

03

18-Point Screening

01

Revenue Quality

A1DSO Change

DSO 43 days, change -2 days YoY

A2AR vs Revenue Growth

AR growth 0.2% vs revenue growth 5.3%

A3Revenue vs CFFO

Revenue 5.3%, CFFO 30.5%. Cash follows revenue

02

Expense Quality

B1Inventory vs COGS

Inventory -6.2% vs COGS 4.7%. Normal

!
B2CapEx vs Revenue

CapEx growth 35.1% is >2x revenue growth 5.3%

B3SG&A Ratio

SG&A/Gross Profit = 37.9%. Normal

B4Gross Margin

Gross margin 64.9%, change +0.2pp. Stable

03

Cash Flow Quality

C1CFFO vs Net Income

CFFO/NI = 1.39. Profits backed by cash

C2Free Cash Flow

FCF $13.3B, FCF/NI = 1.31

C3Accruals Ratio

Accruals ratio = -3.3%. Low accruals

!
C4Cash vs Debt

Cash $16.1B covers 57% of debt $28.1B

04

Balance Sheet Health

D1Goodwill + Intangibles

Goodwill+Intangibles $68.3B = 146% of equity. Over 50%

D2Leverage

Debt/EBITDA = 1.8x. Healthy

D3Soft Asset Growth

Other assets 1.9% vs revenue 5.3%. Normal

D4Asset Impairment

No write-off data

05

Acquisition Risk

E1Serial Acquirer FCF

FCF after acquisitions positive

E2Goodwill Surge

Goodwill+Intangibles change -2% YoY. Normal

06

Manipulation Score

F1Beneish M-Score

M-Score = -2.63 (< -2.22). Unlikely manipulator

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04

Beneish M-Score

Manipulation Probability-2.63
-4.0 Clean-2.22 Grey-1.78 Danger0
0.952
DSRI
AR growing faster than revenue?
0.997
GMI
Gross margin declining?
1.014
AQI
Asset quality deteriorating?
1.053
SGI
Revenue growth rate
0.955
DEPI
Depreciation slowing?
1.006
SGAI
SG&A ratio changing?
-0.0328
TATA
Accruals level
0.979
LVGI
Leverage increasing?
05

Altman Z-Score

1.35
Grey Zone
0 Distress1.102.605.0+ Safe
-0.0006
Liquidity
0.0004
Cumulative profit
0.1038
Operating efficiency
0.6209
Leverage

Generated from public financial data using forensic accounting frameworks. Not investment advice. Data: Yahoo Finance · 2026-04-25

Latest Quarterly Check

About this →

Across the last 5–6 quarters, CSCO tripped 1 red flag.

  • Q5 · Inv > RevInv YoY +33.9% vs Rev YoY +9.7%

Updated 2026-05-19