CSCO vs LITE Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
Compare Cisco's broad enterprise networking and security portfolio against Lumentum's optical components business, a key supplier for AI data center interconnects.
Use this Cisco vs Lumentum comparison to evaluate the key differences across valuation, growth, profitability, and risk before making an investment decision.
LITE holds the edge across 4 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. LITE has delivered stronger 1-year price return (+378.41% vs +50.72%), though CSCO has the better forward P/E setup (19.64x vs 25.85x for LITE). LITE leads on both revenue growth (109.30%) and operating margin (27.95%), suggesting a stronger fundamental setup on both dimensions. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for LITE (+33.42%) than for CSCO (+25.30%).
Human Wall Street analysts' price targets, typically implying a ~12-month view — a separate signal from this site's own AI Prediction Signal further down the page, which is a 5-/30-day machine-learning forecast based on price history alone.
| Metric | CSCO | LITE |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 56.3 | 84.1 |
| AI ranki | #209 | #6 |
| Latest closei | $106.50 | $756.17 |
| 1M returni | +0.07% | -19.30% |
| 3M returni | -6.72% | -0.89% |
| 6M returni | +19.65% | -14.23% |
| 1Y returni | +50.72% | +378.41% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | CSCO | LITE |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $15.16K (+51.6%) started 2025-10-23 | $44.88K (+348.8%) started 2025-10-23 |
| 5Y ago | $24.05K (+140.5%) started 2021-10-25 | $92.96K (+829.6%) started 2021-10-25 |
| 10Y ago | $61.25K (+512.5%) started 2016-10-24 | $182.65K (+1726.5%) started 2016-10-24 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | CSCO | LITE |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $433.28B | $77.21B |
| Trailing P/Ei | 33.01 | 156.17 |
| Forward P/Ei | 19.64 | 25.85 |
| Price/Salesi | 4.70 | 40.44 |
| EV/Revenuei | 7.07 | 25.51 |
| Analyst targeti | $137.74 | $1,148.43 |
| Target upsidei | +25.30% | +33.42% |
| Metric | CSCO | LITE |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | 17.60% | 109.30% |
| Earnings growthi | 52.00% | N/A |
| EPS growthi | +52.00% | N/A |
| FCF margini | +18.27% | +7.46% |
| Operating margini | 27.70% | 27.95% |
| Profit margini | 20.95% | -230.10% |
| ROIC proxyi | 27.32% | -240.03% |
| Return on equityi | 27.32% | -240.03% |
| Dividend yieldi | 1.50% | N/A |
| Payout ratioi | 49.85% | 0.00% |
| Dividend growth streaki | No increase yet | N/A |
| Betai | 1.00 | 1.51 |
| Debt/equityi | 58.73 | 35.99 |
| Current ratioi | 0.93 | 1.68 |
| Quick ratioi | 0.65 | 1.32 |
Over the past year, CSCO and LITE have moved weakly in the same direction (correlation of 0.31), based on daily returns.
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | CSCO | LITE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | +51.56% | +348.77% |
| CAGRi | +51.65% | +349.73% | |
| Volatilityi | 35.24% | 99.22% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 1.23 | 1.97 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 1.81 | 3.13 | |
| Max drawdowni | 19.32% | 42.80% | |
| Current drawdowni | 18.08% | 33.28% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 7.33% | 11.02% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 9.24% | 14.60% | |
| Max daily dropi | 12.32% | 14.19% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 11.44% | 27.40% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | +114.87% | +829.64% |
| CAGRi | +16.55% | +56.28% | |
| Volatilityi | 26.12% | 64.69% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.55 | 0.95 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.77 | 1.41 | |
| Max drawdowni | 36.68% | 66.48% | |
| Current drawdowni | 18.08% | 33.28% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 12.86% | 30.49% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 15.80% | 36.87% | |
| Max daily dropi | 13.73% | 22.46% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 13.61% | 27.40% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +354.45% | +1726.50% |
| CAGRi | +16.35% | +33.73% | |
| Volatilityi | 26.49% | 58.77% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.54 | 0.72 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.75 | 1.04 | |
| Max drawdowni | 41.95% | 66.89% | |
| Current drawdowni | 18.08% | 33.28% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 11.14% | 24.63% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 14.57% | 30.22% | |
| Max daily dropi | 13.73% | 32.98% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 16.10% | 31.75% |
| Category | CSCO | LITE |
|---|---|---|
| Company | CSCO | LITE |
| Sector | Technology | Technology |
| Industry | Communication Equipment | Communication Equipment |
| Core business | Cisco Systems, Inc. designs, develops, and sells technologies to power, help, secure, and draw insights from the internet in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, Japan, and China. | Lumentum Holdings Inc. manufactures and sells optical and photonic products in the Americas, the Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. |
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