CSCO (Cisco Systems) Beneish M-Score: -2.37 (As of Jun. 24, 2026)


CSCO Cisco Systems Inc CSCO
81 GF Score
Price $119.38
GF Value $68.24
Valuation Significantly Overvalued
! 9 Warning Signs
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What is Cisco Systems Beneish M-Score?

Cisco Systems CSCO -1.46% 81 Beneish M-Score is -2.37 as of Jun. 24, 2026. GuruFocus rates CSCO with a GF Score™ of 81/100 and a GF Value™ of $68.24 (Significantly Overvalued). The stock has 9 warning signs investors should review. Among 2,403 Hardware companies, Cisco Systems ranks worse than 57.8% on this metric.

The zones of discrimination for M-Score is as such:

An M-Score of equal or less than -1.78 suggests that the company is unlikely to be a manipulator.
An M-Score of greater than -1.78 signals that the company is likely to be a manipulator.

Good Sign:

Beneish M-Score -2.37 no higher than -1.78, which implies that the company is unlikely to be a manipulator.

The historical rank and industry rank for Cisco Systems's Beneish M-Score or its related term are showing as below:

CSCO' s Beneish M-Score Range Over the Past 10 Years
Min: -3.05   Med: -2.6   Max: -2.34
Current: -2.37

During the past 13 years, the highest Beneish M-Score of Cisco Systems was -2.34. The lowest was -3.05. And the median was -2.60.


Cisco Systems Beneish M-Score Historical Data

* Premium members only.

The historical data trend for Cisco Systems's Beneish M-Score can be seen below:

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.

Cisco Systems Beneish M-Score Chart

Cisco Systems Annual Data
Trend Jul16 Jul17 Jul18 Jul19 Jul20 Jul21 Jul22 Jul23 Jul24 Jul25
Beneish M-Score
Get a 7-Day Free Trial Premium Member Only Premium Member Only -2.65 -2.52 -2.90 -2.43 -2.62

Cisco Systems Quarterly Data
Jul21 Oct21 Jan22 Apr22 Jul22 Oct22 Jan23 Apr23 Jul23 Oct23 Jan24 Apr24 Jul24 Oct24 Jan25 Apr25 Jul25 Oct25 Jan26 Apr26
Beneish M-Score Get a 7-Day Free Trial Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only -2.65 -2.62 -2.52 -2.43 -2.37

CSCO vs CIEN, MSI, LITE: Beneish M-Score Comparison

For the Communication Equipment subindustry, Cisco Systems's Beneish M-Score, along with its competitors' market caps and Beneish M-Score data, can be viewed below:

* Competitive companies are chosen from companies within the same industry, with headquarter located in same country, with closest market capitalization; x-axis shows the market cap, and y-axis shows the term value; the bigger the dot, the larger the market cap. Note that "N/A" values will not show up in the chart.


Cisco Systems Beneish M-Score vs Hardware Industry

For the Hardware industry and Technology sector, Cisco Systems's Beneish M-Score distribution charts can be found below:

* The bar in red indicates where Cisco Systems's Beneish M-Score falls into.


CSCO
81GF Score
Cisco Systems Inc CSCO
Beneish M-Score is just one metric. See GF Score™, valuation, warning signs, and more.
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Cisco Systems Beneish M-Score Calculation

The M-score was created by Professor Messod Beneish. Instead of measuring the bankruptcy risk (Altman Z-Score) or business trend (Piotroski F-Score), M-score can be used to detect the risk of earnings manipulation. This is the original research paper on M-score.

The M-Score Variables:

The M-score of Cisco Systems for today is based on a combination of the following eight different indices:

M=-4.84+0.92 * DSRI+0.528 * GMI+0.404 * AQI+0.892 * SGI+0.115 * DEPI
=-4.84+0.92 * 1.047+0.528 * 1.0142+0.404 * 0.9712+0.892 * 1.0921+0.115 * 1.1912
-0.172 * SGAI+4.679 * TATA-0.327 * LVGI
-0.172 * 0.9271+4.679 * -0.010562-0.327 * 0.98
=-2.37

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.

This Year (Apr26) TTM:Last Year (Apr25) TTM:
Total Receivables was $9,416 Mil.
Revenue was 15841 + 15349 + 14883 + 14673 = $60,746 Mil.
Gross Profit was 10080 + 9972 + 9745 + 9280 = $39,077 Mil.
Total Current Assets was $36,559 Mil.
Total Assets was $125,546 Mil.
Property, Plant and Equipment(Net PPE) was $2,577 Mil.
Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization(DDA) was $2,537 Mil.
Selling, General, & Admin. Expense(SGA) was $14,213 Mil.
Total Current Liabilities was $39,541 Mil.
Long-Term Debt & Capital Lease Obligation was $19,371 Mil.
Net Income was 3373 + 3175 + 2860 + 2550 = $11,958 Mil.
Non Operating Income was 243 + -11 + 9 + 18 = $259 Mil.
Cash Flow from Operations was 3757 + 1822 + 3212 + 4234 = $13,025 Mil.
Total Receivables was $8,235 Mil.
Revenue was 14149 + 13991 + 13841 + 13642 = $55,623 Mil.
Gross Profit was 9278 + 9111 + 9121 + 8781 = $36,291 Mil.
Total Current Assets was $32,816 Mil.
Total Assets was $119,782 Mil.
Property, Plant and Equipment(Net PPE) was $2,076 Mil.
Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization(DDA) was $2,999 Mil.
Selling, General, & Admin. Expense(SGA) was $14,038 Mil.
Total Current Liabilities was $34,495 Mil.
Long-Term Debt & Capital Lease Obligation was $22,857 Mil.




1. DSRI = Days Sales in Receivables Index

Measured as the ratio of Revenue in Total Receivables in year t to year t-1.

A large increase in DSR could be indicative of revenue inflation.

DSRI=(Receivables_t / Revenue_t) / (Receivables_t-1 / Revenue_t-1)
=(9416 / 60746) / (8235 / 55623)
=0.155006 / 0.14805
=1.047

2. GMI = Gross Margin Index

Measured as the ratio of gross margin in year t-1 to gross margin in year t.

Gross margin has deteriorated when this index is above 1. A firm with poorer prospects is more likely to manipulate earnings.

GMI=GrossMargin_t-1 / GrossMargin_t
=(GrossProfit_t-1 / Revenue_t-1) / (GrossProfit_t / Revenue_t)
=(36291 / 55623) / (39077 / 60746)
=0.652446 / 0.643285
=1.0142

3. AQI = Asset Quality Index

AQI is the ratio of asset quality in year t to year t-1.

Asset quality is measured as the ratio of non-current assets other than Property, Plant and Equipment to Total Assets.

AQI=(1 - (CurrentAssets_t + PPE_t) / TotalAssets_t) / (1 - (CurrentAssets_t-1 + PPE_t-1) / TotalAssets_t-1)
=(1 - (36559 + 2577) / 125546) / (1 - (32816 + 2076) / 119782)
=0.688274 / 0.708704
=0.9712

4. SGI = Sales Growth Index

Ratio of Revenue in year t to sales in year t-1.

Sales growth is not itself a measure of manipulation. However, growth companies are likely to find themselves under pressure to manipulate in order to keep up appearances.

SGI=Sales_t / Sales_t-1
=Revenue_t / Revenue_t-1
=60746 / 55623
=1.0921

5. DEPI = Depreciation Index

Measured as the ratio of the rate of Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization in year t-1 to the corresponding rate in year t.

DEPI greater than 1 indicates that assets are being depreciated at a slower rate. This suggests that the firm might be revising useful asset life assumptions upwards, or adopting a new method that is income friendly.

DEPI=(Depreciation_t-1 / (Depreciaton_t-1 + PPE_t-1)) / (Depreciation_t / (Depreciaton_t + PPE_t))
=(2999 / (2999 + 2076)) / (2537 / (2537 + 2577))
=0.590936 / 0.496089
=1.1912

Note: If the Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization data is not available, we assume that the depreciation rate is constant and set the Depreciation Index to 1.

6. SGAI = Sales, General and Administrative expenses Index

The ratio of Selling, General, & Admin. Expense(SGA) to Sales in year t relative to year t-1.

SGA expenses index > 1 means that the company is becoming less efficient in generate sales.

SGAI=(SGA_t / Sales_t) / (SGA_t-1 /Sales_t-1)
=(14213 / 60746) / (14038 / 55623)
=0.233974 / 0.252378
=0.9271

7. LVGI = Leverage Index

The ratio of total debt to Total Assets in year t relative to yeat t-1.

An LVGI > 1 indicates an increase in leverage

LVGI=((LTD_t + CurrentLiabilities_t) / TotalAssets_t) / ((LTD_t-1 + CurrentLiabilities_t-1) / TotalAssets_t-1)
=((19371 + 39541) / 125546) / ((22857 + 34495) / 119782)
=0.469246 / 0.478803
=0.98

8. TATA = Total Accruals to Total Assets

Total accruals calculated as the change in working capital accounts other than cash less depreciation.

TATA=(IncomefromContinuingOperations_t - CashFlowsfromOperations_t) / TotalAssets_t
=(NetIncome_t - NonOperatingIncome_t - CashFlowsfromOperations_t) / TotalAssets_t
=(11958 - 259 - 13025) / 125546
=-0.010562

An M-Score of equal or less than -1.78 suggests that the company is unlikely to be a manipulator. An M-Score of greater than -1.78 signals that the company is likely to be a manipulator.

Cisco Systems has a M-score of -2.37 suggests that the company is unlikely to be a manipulator.

Frequently Asked Questions Learn more about Beneish M-Score →
What does a Beneish M-Score of -2.37 mean?
Cisco Systems (CSCO) has a Beneish M-Score of -2.37 as of Jun. 24, 2026. The Beneish M-score measures the likelihood of earnings manipulation. View historical data on Cisco Systems and its competitors. According to the industry distribution chart, Cisco Systems ranks #1389 out of 2403 companies in the Hardware industry, placing it in the top 57.8%.
Is Cisco Systems' Beneish M-Score too high?
Cisco Systems' current Beneish M-Score is -2.37. Based on the distribution chart, Cisco Systems ranks #1389 out of 2403 companies in the Hardware industry, which is below the industry midpoint. Overall, Cisco Systems has a GF Score™ of 81/100 and is considered Significantly Overvalued, reflecting its overall financial health beyond just this single metric.
How does Cisco Systems' Beneish M-Score compare to CIEN and MSI?
According to the Hardware industry distribution chart, Cisco Systems ranks #1389 out of 2403 companies for Beneish M-Score. This places Cisco Systems in the lower half of its industry. See the competitive comparison table and distribution chart on this page for a detailed peer-by-peer breakdown.
What is a good Beneish M-Score for a Hardware company?
A good Beneish M-Score depends on the Hardware industry context. However, Beneish M-Score should not be evaluated in isolation — investors should consider it alongside profitability, growth, and financial strength metrics. Use the industry distribution chart on this page to see where any company falls relative to its peers.
What does a high Beneish M-Score mean?
A high Beneish M-Score can signal that a stock is expensive relative to its fundamentals. The Beneish M-score measures the likelihood of earnings manipulation. View historical data on Cisco Systems and its competitors. Cisco Systems's current Beneish M-Score is -2.37. However, context matters — high-growth companies often justify higher valuations. Always evaluate alongside other metrics like GF Score™ and GF Value™.
Is Cisco Systems stock overvalued right now?
Based on GuruFocus' analysis, Cisco Systems (CSCO) is currently considered Significantly Overvalued. The stock's GF Value™ is $68.24, compared to a current price of $119.38 — trading 74.9% above its estimated fair value. The current Beneish M-Score is -2.37. Cisco Systems' overall GF Score™ is 81/100 with 9 warning signs to review. Investors should evaluate multiple metrics — including profitability, growth, and financial strength — before making a decision.
How is Beneish M-Score calculated?
Beneish M-Score is calculated from a company's financial statements. For Cisco Systems (CSCO), the current Beneish M-Score is -2.37 as of Jun. 24, 2026. GuruFocus calculates this using data sourced from SEC filings and annual reports. See the calculation section and 30-year financial data on this page for the full breakdown.

Is Cisco Systems (CSCO) Overvalued in 2026?

Based on GuruFocus' analysis, Cisco Systems stock appears to be overvalued. The current stock price of $119.38 is trading 74.9% above its estimated GF Value™ of $68.24. GuruFocus considers Cisco Systems to be Significantly Overvalued.

Key valuation signals for CSCO:

  • Beneish M-Score: -2.37
  • GF Value™: $68.24 vs. price of $119.38 (74.9% above fair value)
  • GF Score™: 81/100 with 9 warning signs

No single metric tells the full story. See the CSCO stock analysis page for a complete view including 30-year financials, guru trades, and insider activity.


Cisco Systems Business Description

Address 170 West Tasman Drive, San Jose, CA, USA, 95134-1706
Cisco Systems is the largest provider of networking equipment in the world and one of the largest software companies in the world. Its largest businesses are selling networking hardware and software (where it has leading market shares) and cybersecurity software such as firewalls. It also has collaboration products, like its Webex suite, and observability tools. It primarily outsources its manufacturing to third parties and has a large sales and marketing staff—25,000 strong across 90 countries. Overall, Cisco employs 80,000 people and sells its products globally.
81GF Score

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Beneish M-Score is just one metric. See GF Value™, 30-year financials, guru trades, warning signs, and more.

$119.38
Price
$68.24
GF Value