CSCO vs IBM
Cisco Systems, Inc. and International Business Machines Corp., side by side — 10 fiscal years reported in USD, drawn from SEC filings.
Most recent reported year
| Metric | CSCO | IBM |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $56.7B | $67.5B |
| Net income | $10.2B | $10.6B |
| Gross margin | 64.9% | 58.2% |
| Net margin | 18.0% | 15.7% |
| Return on equity | 22.1% | 35.3% |
| Diluted EPS | $2.55 | $11.17 |
| Dividend / share | $1.62 | $6.71 |
| Payout ratio | 63.2% | 59.0% |
| Free cash flow | $13.3B | $12.1B |
| Equity | $46.8B | $32.6B |
| Net debt / equity | 0.35× | 1.46× |
| Current ratio | 1.00× | 0.96× |
| Revenue CAGR 5y | 2.8% | 4.1% |
| Profit CAGR 5y | −1.9% | 13.6% |
IBM bills 1.2× the revenue of CSCO, and CSCO keeps more of each dollar of revenue as profit (18.0% against 15.7%).
The stronger figure of the pair is set in bold. That is arithmetic, not a recommendation — this page does not pick a winner. "·" marks a figure not available in our data.
10 years side by side
| Fiscal year | CSCO | IBM |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $56.7B | $67.5B |
| FY2024 | $53.8B | $62.8B |
| FY2023 | $57.0B | $61.9B |
| FY2022 | $51.6B | $60.5B |
| FY2021 | $49.8B | $57.4B |
| FY2020 | $49.3B | $55.2B |
| FY2019 | $51.9B | $57.7B |
| FY2018 | $49.3B | $79.6B |
| FY2017 | $48.0B | $79.1B |
| FY2016 | $49.2B | $79.9B |
Bottom line
| Fiscal year | CSCO | IBM |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $10.2B | $10.6B |
| FY2024 | $10.3B | $6.0B |
| FY2023 | $12.6B | $7.5B |
| FY2022 | $11.8B | $1.6B |
| FY2021 | $10.6B | $5.7B |
| FY2020 | $11.2B | $5.6B |
| FY2019 | $11.6B | $9.4B |
| FY2018 | $110.0M | $8.7B |
| FY2017 | $9.6B | $5.8B |
| FY2016 | $10.7B | $11.9B |
18 fiscal years
| Fiscal year | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | −$10,881,000,000 | IBM |
| FY2024 | −$8,950,000,000 | IBM |
| FY2023 | −$4,862,000,000 | IBM |
| FY2022 | −$8,973,000,000 | IBM |
| FY2021 | −$7,532,000,000 | IBM |
| FY2020 | −$5,878,000,000 | IBM |
| FY2019 | −$5,810,000,000 | IBM |
| FY2018 | −$30,261,000,000 | IBM |
| FY2017 | −$31,134,000,000 | IBM |
| FY2016 | −$30,672,000,000 | IBM |
| FY2015 | −$32,580,000,000 | IBM |
| FY2014 | −$45,651,000,000 | IBM |
| FY2013 | −$49,760,000,000 | IBM |
| FY2012 | −$56,813,000,000 | IBM |
| FY2011 | −$63,698,000,000 | IBM |
| FY2010 | −$59,830,000,000 | IBM |
| FY2009 | −$59,641,000,000 | IBM |
| FY2008 | −$64,090,000,000 | IBM |
IBM has reported the higher revenue in every one of these 18 fiscal years. The gap has narrowed since the earliest year compared.
18 of 19 comparable fiscal years — a year missing data on either side is not counted.
18 fiscal years
| Fiscal year | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | +2.3 pp | CSCO |
| FY2024 | +9.6 pp | CSCO |
| FY2023 | +10.0 pp | CSCO |
| FY2022 | +20.2 pp | CSCO |
| FY2021 | +11.2 pp | CSCO |
| FY2020 | +12.6 pp | CSCO |
| FY2019 | +6.0 pp | CSCO |
| FY2018 | −10.7 pp | IBM |
| FY2017 | +12.7 pp | CSCO |
| FY2016 | +7.0 pp | CSCO |
| FY2015 | +2.1 pp | CSCO |
| FY2014 | +3.7 pp | CSCO |
| FY2013 | +3.8 pp | CSCO |
| FY2012 | +1.3 pp | CSCO |
| FY2011 | +0.2 pp | CSCO |
| FY2010 | +4.5 pp | CSCO |
| FY2009 | +3.0 pp | CSCO |
| FY2008 | +8.5 pp | CSCO |
The higher net margin has changed hands between CSCO and IBM over this period.
18 of 19 comparable fiscal years — a year missing data on either side is not counted.
Standard deviation, each side
CSCO's net margin has been more volatile than IBM's over the 18 comparable fiscal years — 5.0 percentage points of standard deviation against 3.6.
18 of 19 comparable fiscal years — a year missing data on either side is not counted.
Year by year
The lead in net margin changed hands between CSCO and IBM over these 18 fiscal years — CSCO led in 17 and IBM in 1.
18 of 19 comparable fiscal years — a year missing data on either side is not counted.
Standard deviation, each side
IBM's return on equity has been more volatile than CSCO's over the 18 comparable fiscal years — 24.7 percentage points of standard deviation against 7.6.
18 of 19 comparable fiscal years — a year missing data on either side is not counted.
Year by year
The lead in return on equity changed hands between CSCO and IBM over these 18 fiscal years — CSCO led in 2 and IBM in 16.
18 of 19 comparable fiscal years — a year missing data on either side is not counted.