AMD vs Cisco: Revenue, Profit and Business Model
AMD reported $34.6B of revenue in FY2025 and $4.3B of net income. Cisco reported $63.3B of revenue in FY2026 and $13.3B of net income.
Latest financial snapshot
Financial summary
AMD
AMD's decade is a turnaround with a paper trail. Revenue fell to $4.0B in 2015 and the company lost $660M; its market value ended that year near $2.3B. Zen-based Ryzen and EPYC parts, and Intel's process delays, shifted the mix toward servers and then AI accelerators. FY2025 revenue was $34.6B, up 34% from $25.8B, with net income of $4.3B, a 50% gross margin, $8.1B of research and development spending, and $4.1B of marketing, general and administrative expense. Cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments rose to $10.6B from $5.1B a year earlier, against $3.3B of total debt principal. The result also absorbed about $440M of net inventory and related charges tied to US export controls on Instinct MI308 products.
Cisco
Cisco's revenue fell 5.6% to $53.8 billion in FY2024 as customers worked through excess inventory, then recovered to $56.7 billion in FY2025 and a record $63.3 billion in FY2026 (up 12%). FY2026 GAAP net income was about $13.3 billion, GAAP EPS was $3.33 (up 31%), and non-GAAP EPS was $4.33. Growth accelerated through the year: Q4 FY2026 revenue was $17.3 billion, up 18%, with product revenue up 24% and total product orders up 35%. Cisco said it recognized about $4 billion of AI infrastructure revenue from hyperscalers in FY2026 and expects about $7.5 billion in FY2027, within total FY2027 revenue guidance of $72.2-73.4 billion. The company also pays a quarterly dividend and buys back stock.
Revenue and profit by year
AMD
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $34.6B | $4.3B | 12.5% | +34.3% | Source |
| FY2024 | $25.8B | $1.6B | 6.4% | +13.7% | Source |
| FY2023 | $22.7B | $854M | 3.8% | -3.9% | Source |
| FY2022 | $23.6B | $1.3B | 5.6% | +43.6% | Source |
| FY2021 | $16.4B | $3.2B | 19.2% | +68.3% | Source |
| FY2020 | $9.8B | $2.5B | 25.5% | +45.0% | Source |
| FY2019 | $6.7B | $341M | 5.1% | +4.0% | Source |
| FY2018 | $6.5B | $337M | 5.2% | +23.3% | Source |
| FY2017 | $5.3B | -$33M | -0.6% | +21.6% | Source |
| FY2016 | $4.3B | -$498M | -11.5% | — | Source |
Cisco
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026 | $63.3B | $13.3B | 21.0% | +11.8% | Source |
| FY2025 | $56.7B | $10.2B | 18.0% | +5.3% | Source |
| FY2024 | $53.8B | $10.3B | 19.2% | -5.6% | Source |
| FY2023 | $57B | $12.6B | 22.1% | +10.6% | Source |
| FY2022 | $51.6B | $11.8B | 22.9% | +3.5% | Source |
| FY2021 | $49.8B | $10.6B | 21.3% | +1.0% | Source |
| FY2020 | $49.3B | $11.2B | 22.7% | -5.0% | Source |
| FY2019 | $51.9B | $11.6B | 22.4% | +5.2% | Source |
| FY2018 | $49.3B | $110M | 0.2% | +2.8% | Source |
| FY2017 | $48B | $9.6B | 20.0% | — | Source |
Where the revenue comes from
AMD
- Data Center~48%
EPYC server CPUs, Instinct AI accelerators, Pensando DPUs, AI network interface cards, FPGAs, and adaptive SoCs sold to cloud providers, enterprises, and HPC customers. Net revenue was $16.6B in FY2025, up 32%.
- Client and Gaming~42%
Ryzen desktop and notebook processors, chipsets, Radeon discrete GPUs, and semi-custom SoCs for PlayStation and Xbox consoles. Net revenue was $14.6B in FY2025, up 51%, with Client at $10.6B and Gaming at $3.9B.
- Embedded~10%
Xilinx-derived FPGAs, adaptive SoCs, system-on-modules, and embedded CPUs sold into telecommunications, aerospace, defense, automotive, and industrial markets. Net revenue was $3.5B in FY2025, down 3%.
Cisco
- Secure, Agile Networks (Networking)~49%
Enterprise switching, routing, and wireless products including Catalyst, Nexus, and Meraki platforms. Cisco's largest and most established segment.
- Security~11%
Cybersecurity products including firewalls, zero-trust solutions, XDR, and the Splunk observability platform acquired in 2024 for $28 billion.
- Collaboration~9%
Webex video conferencing, unified communications, contact center solutions, and collaboration devices for hybrid work environments.
- Observability~8%
Full-stack observability including AppDynamics, ThousandEyes, and Splunk's SIEM/observability capabilities for monitoring application and network performance.
- Services~23%
Technical support, advisory services, and implementation services tied to Cisco's hardware and software portfolio. High-margin recurring revenue stream.
Business model and strategy
AMD
How it makes money
Advanced Micro Devices runs a fabless semiconductor model. It designs CPUs, GPUs, AI accelerators, FPGAs, and adaptive SoCs, and contracts the wafer manufacturing to outside foundries, primarily TSMC. That structure keeps leading-edge fabrication off AMD's balance sheet and makes engineering its largest investment: research and development cost $8.1B in FY2025, about 23% of revenue.
Growth strategy
AMD's growth plan centers on data center AI, funded by $8.1B of research and development in FY2025. It has bought capability rather than waiting to build it: Xilinx in February 2022 for FPGAs and adaptive computing, a deal announced in October 2020 at about $35B in stock and worth roughly $49B at close; Pensando in May 2022 for DPUs at about $1.9B; Silo AI in August 2024 for AI software engineering at about $665M;
Competitive advantage
AMD's advantage is design and packaging execution without fab ownership. Because it buys capacity from TSMC instead of running leading-edge fabs, it can move to a newer process node as soon as the foundry has one in volume. Its chiplet approach assembles a processor from smaller dies linked by Infinity Fabric, which improves usable yield and makes high core-count parts cheaper to build than a single large die.
Cisco
How it makes money
Cisco makes money in two ways: product sales and services. Products (switches, routers, wireless, Silicon One-based data center and AI networking gear, firewalls, Splunk and other security and observability software, and Webex) made up about $13.5 billion of the $17.3 billion Q4 FY2026 revenue, while services (technical support, advisory, and maintenance contracts) contributed about $3.8 billion.
Growth strategy
Cisco's growth plan rests on three areas. First, AI infrastructure: Silicon One chips, Nexus and Cisco 8000 systems, and optics sold to hyperscalers and, increasingly, to neoclouds, sovereign AI projects, and enterprises building their own AI clusters. Second, campus and branch refresh, as enterprises upgrade switching and Wi-Fi for AI workloads.
Competitive advantage
Cisco's advantage is how deeply its equipment is built into corporate networks. The saying in IT is that 'nobody ever got fired for buying Cisco': large banks and other enterprises choose it for reliability. Replacing an integrated Cisco network with cheaper hardware is a multi-year project with real risk, so most CIOs stay, which gives Cisco a durable installed base.
Questions about AMD vs Cisco
Which company has higher revenue — Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. or Cisco Systems, Inc.?
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. reported $34.6B (FY2025), while Cisco Systems, Inc. reported $63.3B (FY2026). By last reported revenue, Cisco Systems, Inc. is the larger business, with Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. reporting a smaller revenue base. Note: these are from different fiscal years and are not a direct like-for-like comparison.
What is the market cap of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. vs Cisco Systems, Inc.?
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.'s market capitalisation stands at $999.5B, while Cisco Systems, Inc.'s is $420.7B. Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. carries the higher market valuation, reflecting investors' expectations of its future earnings power relative to Cisco Systems, Inc..
Which is more financially efficient — Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. or Cisco Systems, Inc.?
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. generates $1.12M / employee in revenue per employee, while Cisco Systems, Inc. generates $769k / employee. Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. shows higher revenue efficiency per headcount, though this reflects business model differences — capital-light software companies routinely outperform labour-intensive manufacturers on this metric.
How do Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. and Cisco Systems, Inc. make money?
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. and Cisco Systems, Inc. generate revenue in fundamentally different ways. Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.: Advanced Micro Devices runs a fabless semiconductor model. Cisco Systems, Inc.: Cisco makes money in two ways: product sales and services.
Which company is valued higher relative to revenue — Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. or Cisco Systems, Inc.?
On a price-to-sales (P/S) basis, Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. trades at 28.9x P/S and Cisco Systems, Inc. at 6.6x P/S. Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. commands a higher revenue multiple, typically indicating that investors expect faster growth or higher future margins compared to Cisco Systems, Inc.. A higher multiple is not inherently better — it may also signal that the stock is priced for perfection.
Is Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. bigger than Cisco Systems, Inc.?
By last reported revenue, Cisco Systems, Inc. ($63.3B (FY2026)) is the larger company compared to Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. ($34.6B (FY2025)). Revenue scale is one dimension of size — market capitalisation, employee count, and geographic reach are also relevant depending on the context.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the AMD vs Cisco overview