Why Is Cisco Stock Falling on Thursday?

Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) stock is falling on Thursday. Two factors are contributing to the move: a critical security flaw in one of its products and a broader market sell-off.

The Nasdaq is down 0.69%, while the S&P 500 is up 0.05%, with the technology sector declining 1.3%.

• Cisco Systems stock is feeling bearish pressure. What’s weighing on CSCO shares?

Cisco published a security advisory on Wednesday. It covers a vulnerability in Cisco Secure Email Gateway that carries a 9.8 severity score and a "Critical" rating.

Cisco’s Product Security Incident Response Team became aware of active exploitation in October. Cisco said it found the vulnerability during internal security scanning.

Technical Analysis

From a trend perspective, Cisco is in a pullback within a still-bullish longer-term structure: the stock is about 9.8% above its 200-day SMA ($99.40), but it’s now trading 1.9% below the 20-day SMA ($111.22) and 2.4% below the 50-day SMA ($111.88). That short-term damage is also reflected in the 20-day SMA sitting below the 50-day SMA (a bearish crossover), even as the 50-day remains above the 200-day (a bullish longer-term alignment).

Key levels are tight enough to matter for near-term direction, especially with price sitting between nearby support and the moving-average cluster overhead.

• Key Resistance: $112.50 — Nearby ceiling that lines up with the stock’s short-term moving-average area where rebounds can stall.
• Key Support: $107.50 — Nearby floor that’s close enough to be a practical "line in the sand" if selling continues.

Zooming out, the stock is still well off its 52-week high of $130.37 (set in June), and the chart has seen meaningful turning points with a recent swing high in August followed by a swing low in September.

Benzinga Edge Rankings

According to the Benzinga Edge scorecard, Cisco scores strongly in Momentum (92.4/100) and Quality (85.68), indicating positive trend strength and business fundamentals. However, its weak Value (14.35) and Growth (28.45) scores suggest that valuation concerns and below-average growth prospects could weigh on sentiment.

CSCO Stock Price Activity: Cisco Systems shares were down 3.93% at $109.17 at the time of publication on Thursday, according to Benzinga Pro data.

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