By Robin Wigglesworth
Publication Date: 2025-12-11 14:29:00
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It only took 25 years, eight months and 13 days, but the stock of Cisco Systems finally hit a new record high.
All the way back in the elder days of March 27 2000, Cisco briefly surpassed Microsoft to become the world’s most valuable company with a (split-adjusted) record share price of $80.06. It took a loooooooooong time, but yesterday Cisco touched a new record high of $80.25. Huzzah!
Why do we care? Well, only because of the potential parallels with the current AI mania in general — and Nvidia in particular.
Cisco’s dotcom rise was powered by the belief that it supplied the picks and shovels of the internet era, just like how Nvidia’s rise to become the world’s most valuable company has been driven by its status as the AI age’s picks-and-shovels powerhouse.
Crucially, the predictions that Cisco would make tons of money from routers and other…
