CSCO vs MSI Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
Compare Cisco's networking, security, and collaboration business against Motorola Solutions' land mobile radio and public safety software franchise with sticky government contracts.
Use this Cisco vs Motorola Solutions comparison to evaluate the key differences across valuation, growth, profitability, and risk before making an investment decision.
CSCO holds the edge across 4 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. CSCO leads on both 1-year return (+61.37%) and forward P/E quality (19.64x vs 25.44x for MSI), a relatively favorable combination of momentum and valuation. CSCO leads on both revenue growth (17.60%) and operating margin (27.70%), suggesting a stronger fundamental setup on both dimensions. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for CSCO (+25.30%) than for MSI (+8.40%).
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 | MSI |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 54.7 | 59.0 |
| AI ranki | #247 | #160 |
| Latest closei | $109.20 | $468.05 |
| 1M returni | -10.12% | +6.83% |
| 6M returni | +36.48% | +0.19% |
| 1Y returni | +61.37% | -1.29% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | CSCO | MSI |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $16.06K (+60.6%) started 2025-09-04 | $9.78K (-2.2%) started 2025-09-04 |
| 5Y ago | $23.42K (+134.2%) started 2021-09-07 | $20.95K (+109.5%) started 2021-09-07 |
| 10Y ago | $61.17K (+511.7%) started 2016-09-06 | $79.18K (+691.8%) started 2016-09-06 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | CSCO | MSI |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $433.28B | $80.43B |
| Trailing P/Ei | 33.01 | 38.33 |
| Forward P/Ei | 19.64 | 25.44 |
| Price/Salesi | 4.70 | N/A |
| EV/Revenuei | 7.07 | 7.30 |
| Analyst targeti | $137.74 | $526.82 |
| Target upsidei | +25.30% | +8.40% |
| Metric | CSCO | MSI |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | 17.60% | 13.30% |
| Earnings growthi | 52.00% | 9.50% |
| EPS growthi | +52.00% | +9.50% |
| FCF margini | +18.27% | +16.17% |
| Operating margini | 27.70% | 27.35% |
| Profit margini | 20.95% | 17.44% |
| ROIC proxyi | 27.32% | 91.57% |
| Return on equityi | 27.32% | 91.57% |
| Dividend yieldi | 1.50% | 1.00% |
| Betai | 1.00 | 0.87 |
| Debt/equityi | 58.73 | 357.85 |
| Current ratioi | 0.93 | 1.10 |
| Quick ratioi | 0.65 | 0.78 |
Over the past year, CSCO and MSI have moved barely in opposite directions (correlation of -0.05), 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 | MSI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | +60.61% | -2.21% |
| CAGRi | +60.72% | -2.21% | |
| Volatilityi | 33.70% | 26.12% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 1.44 | -0.13 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 2.11 | -0.17 | |
| Max drawdowni | 16.45% | 25.79% | |
| Current drawdowni | 16.00% | 4.72% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 5.38% | 12.85% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 7.24% | 14.75% | |
| Max daily dropi | 12.32% | 11.36% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 11.44% | 11.91% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | +107.71% | +99.99% |
| CAGRi | +15.77% | +14.89% | |
| Volatilityi | 25.73% | 23.64% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.53 | 0.52 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.74 | 0.74 | |
| Max drawdowni | 36.68% | 27.54% | |
| Current drawdowni | 16.00% | 6.78% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 12.61% | 8.64% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 15.62% | 11.55% | |
| Max daily dropi | 13.73% | 11.36% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 13.61% | 11.91% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +349.04% | +584.57% |
| CAGRi | +16.22% | +21.22% | |
| Volatilityi | 26.28% | 25.32% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.53 | 0.71 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.75 | 1.03 | |
| Max drawdowni | 41.95% | 32.81% | |
| Current drawdowni | 16.00% | 6.78% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 10.98% | 7.07% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 14.47% | 10.33% | |
| Max daily dropi | 13.73% | 11.96% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 16.10% | 21.34% |
| Category | CSCO | MSI |
|---|---|---|
| Company | CSCO | MSI |
| 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. | Motorola Solutions, Inc. provides public safety, government, defense, and enterprise security solutions in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and internationally. |
Want deeper AI forecasts?
This comparison page is public and free forever. Subscribers can unlock saved watchlists, full AI rankings, detailed forecasts, and interactive analysis tools.
Full valuation workup with AI Score, Monte Carlo forecast, and bull/bear case — free preview, premium data from $3.99.