HPE vs. CSCO: Which Stock Has an Edge in the Networking Space?

HPE and Cisco are competing for enterprise and data center networking spending driven by AI demand. HPE strengthened its position through the Juniper acquisition with 148% networking revenue growth, while Cisco benefits from $9.3 billion in hyperscaler AI orders and strong data center momentum. Despite HPE's superior year-to-date performance (130% vs. 45.9%), Cisco is rated as the more compelling investment due to its stronger competitive position, diversified portfolio, and operating leverage, though both carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).