Cisco
CSCO · Communications Equipment
$106.50
1.5%Microsoft
MSFT · Systems Software
$524.51
0.7%The short version
- Microsoft is the larger business, with $331.8B of revenue in fiscal 2026 against $63.3B for Cisco, about 5.2 times as much.
- Microsoft grew revenue faster (17.8%, against 11.8%).
- Microsoft kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (46.8% operating margin, against 24.3% operating margin).
- Microsoft earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (30.9%, against 20.2%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Cisco’s earnings: a P/E of 32.0x against 29.2x for Microsoft.
| Latest fiscal year | CSCO · FY26 | MSFT · FY26 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $424.6B | $3.91T |
| Revenue | $63.3B | $331.8B |
| Free cash flow | $12.8B | $67.0B |
| Net income | $13.3B | $133.7B |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 11.8% | 17.8% |
| 5-year growth | 4.9% | 14.6% |
| Share count change | −0.3% | −0.2% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 64.5% | 67.9% |
| Operating margin | 24.3% | 46.8% |
| Net margin | 21.0% | 40.3% |
| FCF margin | 20.2% | 20.2% |
| Return on capital | 20.2% | 30.9% |
| Return on equity | 27.3% | 34.0% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $15.2B | $30.0B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 1.0x | 0.2x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $12.7B | $48.7B |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 32.0x | 29.2x |
| Piotroski F-score | 6 | 6 |
FY17
CSCO $48.0B
MSFT $96.6B
FY18
CSCO $49.3B
MSFT $110.4B
FY19
CSCO $51.9B
MSFT $125.8B
FY20
CSCO $49.3B
MSFT $143.0B
FY21
CSCO $49.8B
MSFT $168.1B
FY22
CSCO $51.6B
MSFT $198.3B
FY23
CSCO $57.0B
MSFT $211.9B
FY24
CSCO $53.8B
MSFT $245.1B
FY25
CSCO $56.7B
MSFT $281.7B
FY26
CSCO $63.3B
MSFT $331.8B
CSCO
MSFT
FY17
CSCO 24.9%
MSFT 30.1%
FY18
CSCO 25.0%
MSFT 31.8%
FY19
CSCO 27.4%
MSFT 34.1%
FY20
CSCO 27.6%
MSFT 37.0%
FY21
CSCO 25.8%
MSFT 41.6%
FY22
CSCO 27.1%
MSFT 42.1%
FY23
CSCO 26.4%
MSFT 41.8%
FY24
CSCO 22.6%
MSFT 44.6%
FY25
CSCO 20.8%
MSFT 45.6%
FY26
CSCO 24.3%
MSFT 46.8%
CSCO
MSFT
FY17
CSCO $12.9B
MSFT $31.4B
FY18
CSCO $12.8B
MSFT $32.3B
FY19
CSCO $14.9B
MSFT $38.3B
FY20
CSCO $14.7B
MSFT $45.2B
FY21
CSCO $14.8B
MSFT $56.1B
FY22
CSCO $12.7B
MSFT $65.1B
FY23
CSCO $19.0B
MSFT $59.5B
FY24
CSCO $10.2B
MSFT $74.1B
FY25
CSCO $13.3B
MSFT $71.6B
FY26
CSCO $12.8B
MSFT $67.0B
CSCO
MSFT
FY17
CSCO 33.5%
MSFT 74.1%
FY18
CSCO 23.9%
MSFT 48.1%
FY19
CSCO 48.2%
MSFT 100.6%
FY20
CSCO 45.6%
MSFT 86.8%
FY21
CSCO 39.9%
MSFT 88.0%
FY22
CSCO 39.1%
MSFT 69.4%
FY23
CSCO 43.7%
MSFT 50.2%
FY24
CSCO 24.1%
MSFT 41.5%
FY25
CSCO 18.1%
MSFT 34.7%
FY26
CSCO 20.2%
MSFT 30.9%
CSCO
MSFT
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Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.