BofA Securities upgraded Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) to Buy from Neutral, raising their price target to $60 from $55 per share. They outlined three primary growth drivers for Cisco, emphasizing the potential in Splunk, Security, and artificial intelligence to counterbalance weaknesses in networking. Analysts predict that networking will normalize, projecting growth spurred by Cisco's market share gains in Ethernet-based AI infrastructure expansions by major cloud service providers.

The bank also anticipates an acceleration in Cisco's security segment, supported by stabilization in firewall performance and recent product launches. They further noted the positive growth synergies expected from the acquisition of Splunk.

While acknowledging that Cisco may face challenges in the upcoming quarters, Bank of America believes these pressures are already accounted for in current market expectations and that Cisco's guidance remains conservatively realistic. The bank views the current setup for Cisco's stock as favorable, with improved fundamentals likely to drive growth moving forward.