Cisco Systems Inc. At Dot-Com Boom Highs As Investors Wonder What's Next
Summary
Opening this morning at $46, CSCO stock is at its highest since those glory days of the dot-com boom, when Cisco was briefly the world’s most-valuable company, above $68 a share in early 2000.The best plays — like Palo Alto Networks Inc (NYSE: PANW ), and Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: CHKP ) would be too dilutive, trading at 10 times their annual revenue.Buying a rival like Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE: JNPR ) would cost half as much as Palo Alto but would likely run into antitrust problems.The deal moves board member Amy Chang into a line role, running the company’s collaboration technology group, units like Broadsoft.Cisco’s top line has shown no growth for the last three years, its balance sheet and cash flow showing equally sound stability.