Friday Week in Review — May 15, 2026

This Week's Numbers

+15%. Cisco reported record revenue of $15.8 billion Thursday. AI infrastructure orders from hyperscalers hit $5.3 billion year-to-date, already past its own full-year outlook. Six banks raised their price targets the next morning.
-26%. Doximity beat on revenue but guided for just 4% growth next year. The medical networking platform called it an "AI investment year." Wall Street cut the stock $5 billion in market cap in one day.
50,000. The Dow crossed that level Thursday. Trump was in Beijing at a US-China trade summit. No formal deal, but tariffs stay paused through August. Markets took it as a win.
3.8%. CPI came in hotter than expected Monday, the highest annual reading since May 2023. Oil spiked past $101 a barrel. Tech sold off hard before lunch.
$1 billion. Klarna posted its second straight $1 billion revenue quarter and turned profitable. The buy-now-pay-later company jumped 16%. It's still down 70% from its IPO price.

The Brief

Monday started with a gut punch. CPI hit 3.8%, the hottest annual reading in three years. Oil topped $101 a barrel. Tech stocks sold off before lunch. Wednesday night, Cisco flipped the entire week. Record revenue of $15.8 billion. AI infrastructure orders from big data centers hit $5.3 billion for the year, already past their own full-year target. The stock jumped 15% Thursday, its best single-day gain in years. By the afternoon, the Dow crossed 50,000. Trump was wrapping up a two-day summit in Beijing. No formal tariff deal, but the pause holds through August. Markets called it a win. Doximity didn't get the message. The medical platform beat on revenue but told investors to expect 4% growth next year and called it an "AI investment year." The stock lost 26%. Klarna posted its second straight $1 billion quarter and turned profitable for the first time. Stock popped 16%. Still down 70% from its IPO.

Top Stock from the Week: Cisco (CSCO)

Nobody had Cisco on their watchlist going into this week. The stock had been flat for years while Nvidia and the AI darlings took all the headlines. Then Wednesday night happened.

Cisco posted $15.8 billion in revenue, a 12% jump year-over-year and a new record. AI infrastructure orders from hyperscaler clients hit $5.3 billion year-to-date. That number already blew past the company's original full-year outlook. CEO Chuck Robbins raised the full-year AI order guidance to $9 billion on the earnings call. Six Wall Street banks immediately raised their price targets. The stock jumped 15% on Thursday, the best single-day move in years.

There's a catch. Cisco also announced 4,000 layoffs. Under 5% of its workforce. Management says the savings are being redeployed into AI, silicon, and optics. That's the story they're selling. Whether investors believe the AI pivot is real or just another restructuring dressed up in buzzwords matters here.

"$9 billion in AI infrastructure orders is real revenue, not a promise. That changes the math on Cisco."

The bear case: Cisco has been "pivoting to AI" for years and the stock has lagged. One good quarter doesn't change a long-term pattern. The layoffs suggest the old business is still under pressure. The bull case: $9 billion in AI orders is concrete. Networking is the backbone of AI data centers. Every hyperscaler building out AI infrastructure needs what Cisco sells. This may be the quarter the pivot story becomes the main story.

P.S. You don't have to trust me. Trust the $9 billion. That's not a forecast. That's already contracted. Cisco's Investor Day is June 24. That's when management has to explain what comes next.

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