By Zacks Equity Research
Publication Date: 2026-05-22 13:30:00
The recommendations of Wall Street analysts are often relied on by investors when deciding whether to buy, sell, or hold a stock. Media reports about these brokerage-firm-employed (or sell-side) analysts changing their ratings often affect a stock’s price. Do they really matter, though?
Before we discuss the reliability of brokerage recommendations and how to use them to your advantage, let’s see what these Wall Street heavyweights think about Cisco Systems (CSCO).
Cisco currently has an average brokerage recommendation (ABR) of 1.79, on a scale of 1 to 5 (Strong Buy to Strong Sell), calculated based on the actual recommendations (Buy, Hold, Sell, etc.) made by 26 brokerage firms. An ABR of 1.79 approximates between Strong Buy and Buy.
Of the 26 recommendations that derive the current ABR, 15 are Strong Buy and one is Buy. Strong Buy and Buy respectively account for 57.7% and 3.9% of all recommendations.
