AAPL vs CSCO: How Apple Inc. and Cisco Systems Compare (2026)

Same yardstick, side by side (as of July 2026). Valuation lined up like this is most meaningful for two names in the same corner of the market, which these are. Figures are approximate; verify before investing.

Reading it: CSCO is the cheaper of the two on forward earnings, but cheaper is not the same as better. Pair the valuation with growth (how far the forward P/E sits below the trailing P/E) and risk (beta) before you decide.

The metrics above tell you which is the marginally better business. The bigger risk for most people is not picking the slightly worse stock, it is over-concentrating. AAPL and CSCO share themes, so owning both, or adding either to what you already hold, can quietly push a large share of your portfolio into one bet.

This is the part a generic comparison page cannot answer, because it depends on what you own. Connect your brokerage and Walnut shows your real, combined AAPL and CSCO exposure, flags overlap with your existing positions, and tells you if adding one would tip you past a concentration you are comfortable with, read-only by default, with your login staying at your broker. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

Apple (AAPL) designs and sells consumer hardware, software, and services. The iPhone is its largest product by revenue, complemented by Mac computers, iPad tablets, and the wearables category (Apple Watch, AirPods). The fastest-growing and highest-margin part of the business is Services: the App Store, iCloud, Apple Music, Apple TV+, AppleCare, advertising, and payments. Apple's strategy centers on a tightly integrated ecosystem where hardware, the operating systems (iOS, macOS, watchOS), and services reinforce each other and create high switching costs. The company designs its own silicon (the A-series and M-series chips) and outsources manufacturing primarily to partners like TSMC and Foxconn. Founded in 1976 and headquartered in Cupertino, California, Apple is one of the most valuable companies in the world and returns enormous cash to shareholders through buybacks and a growing dividend.

Full AAPL guide

Cisco Systems, founded in 1984 by Stanford University computer scientists and headquartered in San Jose, California, designs, develops, and sells technologies that power, secure, and draw insights from the internet across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia Pacific. The company generates revenue across four main product categories: Networking (switches, routers, wireless, and increasingly AI-optimized silicon and infrastructure), Security (firewall, identity, and endpoint products plus the acquired Splunk platform for observability and threat detection), Collaboration (Webex-based unified communications and video), and Observability (application performance and IT operations monitoring). Services revenue, which includes software subscriptions and technical support, accounts for a material and growing share of the overall mix, giving the company a recurring-revenue cushion alongside its hardware cycles.

Full CSCO guide

Both fit overlapping themes, but they are not interchangeable. The useful comparison is which set of drivers and risks you want exposure to.

• AAPL drivers: Services growth and margin; Installed base and switching costs.
• CSCO drivers: AI Networking Demand Surge; Splunk and the Security Platform Story.

A faster-growing, richer-valued name usually swings harder, so it suits a longer horizon and a higher tolerance for volatility; a steadier, more cash-generative business suits a more conservative or income-minded investor. The honest test is which set of risks you could hold through a drawdown: iPhone is still the majority of revenue, so any slowdown in smartphone replacement cycles or weakness in China, a large and competitive market, hits results directly. For CSCO, cisco's trailing P/E has expanded materially above its 3- and 5-year historical averages, meaning the stock reflects optimistic assumptions about AI-driven growth that require sustained execution to justify.

Growth-minded investors who believe the theme has years to run tend to accept the richer multiple for more upside; value-minded investors lean toward the cheaper forward earnings and steadier profile. Pick AAPL if you believe its drivers more; CSCO if you believe its. Many investors hold both, but since they share themes, that is a concentrated bet, not diversification. Decide deliberately and check overlap. For the full detail, see the AAPL and CSCO guides.

AAPL. Apple trades at a premium multiple for a hardware-rooted business, justified by its Services growth, enormous and consistent free cash flow, and aggressive buybacks that steadily shrink the share count. The valuation embeds confidence in installed-base durability; multiple compression risk rises if iPhone growth stalls or Services regulation bites.

CSCO. Cisco's trailing P/E of roughly 40x sits meaningfully above its 3-year average of around 21-22x, reflecting the market's repricing of the stock as an AI infrastructure beneficiary rather than a mature hardware company. The forward P/E of approximately 25x suggests analysts expect earnings growth to close some of that gap, but execution on Splunk integration and security revenue recovery will be key. Gross margin compression, from approximately 65.6% to 63.6% GAAP year over year in the most recent quarter, is a metric worth tracking as product mix and memory costs evolve.

Headline figures (approximate, early 2026): AAPL shows revenue (ttm) ~$400 billion, operating margin ~30%, net income (ttm) ~$100 billion, gross margin ~46% (Services much higher than hardware); CSCO shows revenue (ttm, as of april 2026) ~$60.7 billion, revenue growth (yoy, ttm) ~9%, non-gaap eps (q3 fy2026) $1.06, gaap gross margin (q3 fy2026) ~63.6%.

AAPL and CSCO are related but distinct: same themes, different businesses and risks. Neither wins in the abstract; the right pick is whichever thesis you actually believe, sized so you are not over-concentrated in one theme. Walnut can show your combined AAPL and CSCO exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.