Cisco Systems, Applied Materials On Deck Thursday As AI Demand Faces Test

Cisco Systems and Applied Materials headline Thursday’s reports, with investors looking for evidence that AI infrastructure demand can keep supporting semiconductor and networking growth. Brookfield, Nebius Group, Ascendis Pharma, Hudbay Minerals and Twist Bioscience report before the open; Cisco Systems, Applied Materials, Ecopetrol, Cerebras Systems and QXO report after the close.

Key Reports Before The Bell

Brookfield (NYSE:BN) — Q3 — 6:45 a.m. ET

EPS: $0.72 est. vs. $0.42 a year ago (+71%)
Stock: +14.7% past month, -8.3% YTD, 15.2% below its 52-week high
Analyst view: Buy consensus, $59 target (3 analysts)

Brookfield has beaten estimates in seven of its past eight quarters, with fundraising, acquisitions and exposure to insurance, credit, AI and energy shaping the setup for its latest report. In Q2, it beat the revenue estimate. On its August call, management highlighted a 15% increase in distributable earnings and acquisitions including Just Group and Oaktree. JP Morgan maintained its Overweight rating while raising its target to $65 from $56 on Nov. 10.

Nebius Group (NASDAQ:NBIS) — Q3 — 7:42 a.m. ET

EPS: -$1.11 est. vs. -$0.40 a year ago (wider loss)
Revenue: $909.1 million est. vs. $146.1 million a year ago (+522%)
Stock: -24.0% past month, +87.7% YTD, 48.0% below its 52-week high
Analyst view: Buy consensus, $279 target (11 analysts)

Nebius enters the report with its AI-cloud growth story intact but a sharply weaker stock setup, making capacity expansion, customer demand and the economics of new infrastructure the key questions. In Q2, it beat on both EPS and revenue. On its August call, management pointed to major AI-cloud deals with upfront payments covering 50% to 60% of associated capital spending. Citigroup maintained its Buy rating while cutting its target to $265 from $324 on Nov. 4.

Ascendis Pharma AS (NASDAQ:ASND) — Q3 — 7:30 a.m. ET

EPS: $1.13 est. vs. -$1.17 a year ago (swing to profit)
Revenue: $417.2 million est. vs. $249.8 million a year ago (+67%)
Stock: +15.4% past month, +20.8% YTD, 8.5% below its 52-week high
Analyst view: Buy consensus, $312 target (15 analysts)

The drugmaker has beaten estimates in four of its past eight quarters, with investors focused on whether Yorvipath’s commercial momentum can continue while newer products broaden the growth story. In Q2, it beat on both EPS and revenue. On its August call, management described Yorvipath as a blockbuster product and highlighted initial contributions from Uviwell alongside Skytrofa. Citigroup maintained its Buy rating while cutting its target to $330 from $360 in October.

Hudbay Minerals (NYSE:HBM) — Q3 — 6:00 a.m. ET

EPS: $0.34 est. vs. $0.03 a year ago (+1033%)
Revenue: $748.9 million est. vs. $346.8 million a year ago (+116%)
Stock: -14.5% past month, +10.6% YTD, 31.8% below its 52-week high
Analyst view: Buy, $31 target (2 analysts)

The copper and mining company has beaten estimates in five of its past eight quarters, leaving operating performance, metal prices and the durability of its margin profile as the main read-throughs. In Q2, it missed on EPS but beat revenue. On its July call, management pointed to record trailing-12-month adjusted EBITDA and a broad growth pipeline. Barclays maintained its Overweight rating while raising its target to $32 from $30 in July.

Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) — Q4 — 7:15 a.m. ET

EPS: -$0.25 est. vs. -$0.45 a year ago (narrower loss)
Revenue: $123.6 million est. vs. $99.0 million a year ago (+25%)
Stock: -16.8% past month, +296.8% YTD, 43.0% below its 52-week high
Analyst view: Buy consensus, $153 target (11 analysts)

Twist Bioscience has beaten estimates in four of its past eight quarters, with the report testing whether demand for synthetic biology tools and AI-enabled drug discovery can support continued growth after a major year-to-date rally. In Q3, it missed on EPS but beat revenue. On its August call, management emphasized record revenue, AI-enabled drug discovery and strong order growth expectations for fiscal 2026 and 2027. TD Cowen maintained its Buy rating while raising its target to $190 from $115 in October.

Key Reports After The Bell

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) — Q1 — 4:05 p.m. ET

EPS: $1.29 est. vs. $1.00 a year ago (+29%)
Revenue: $18.11 billion est. vs. $14.88 billion a year ago (+22%)
Stock: -12.0% past month, +31.5% YTD, 22.3% below its 52-week high
Analyst view: Buy consensus, $134 target (12 analysts)

Cisco has beaten estimates in all of its past eight quarters, with the report centered on whether AI infrastructure orders can keep accelerating growth across networking and related hardware. In Q4, it beat on both EPS and revenue. On its August call, management highlighted record fiscal-year revenue, strong AI orders and a larger AI-revenue opportunity for fiscal 2027. Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to Equal-Weight from Overweight and cut its target to $120 from $135 on Nov. 5.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) — Q4 — 4:01 p.m. ET

EPS: $4.06 est. vs. $2.17 a year ago (+87%)
Revenue: $10.30 billion est. vs. $6.80 billion a year ago (+51%)
Stock: -14.5% past month, +54.4% YTD, 46.5% below its 52-week high
Analyst view: Buy consensus, $661 target (23 analysts)

Applied Materials has beaten estimates in all of its past eight quarters, but the latest report must show that AI infrastructure demand is offsetting pressure in the broader chipmaking equipment cycle. In Q3, it beat on both EPS and revenue. On its August call, management said AI demand was driving record results and projected growth faster than the overall market into 2027. B. Riley Securities maintained its Buy rating while cutting its target to $475 from $700 on Nov. 9.

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) — Q3 — 4:00 p.m. ET

EPS: $0.62 est. vs. $0.31 a year ago (+100%)
Revenue: $9.75 billion est. vs. $7.46 billion a year ago (+31%)
Stock: -12.9% past month, +52.3% YTD, 17.1% below its 52-week high
Analyst view: Hold consensus, $16 target (4 analysts)

Ecopetrol has beaten estimates in just two of its past eight quarters, so the focus is on whether crude prices, refining margins and operating execution can sustain recent earnings momentum. In Q2, it missed on EPS but beat revenue. On its August call, management pointed to favorable crude prices and refining margins, along with record refinery throughput. Jefferies upgraded the stock to Hold from Underperform with a $19 target in October.

Cerebras Systems (NASDAQ:CBRS) — Q3 — 4:05 p.m. ET

EPS: -$0.14 est.
Revenue: $214.9 million est.
Stock: -32.5% past month, 73.9% below its 52-week high
Analyst view: Buy consensus, $257 target (11 analysts)

The AI-chip company has seen its stock fall sharply from its 52-week high, making revenue execution, inference demand and the conversion of its performance obligations into sales the central tests. In Q2, it beat on EPS but missed revenue. On its August call, management said demand for fast inference was supporting record core revenue and cited $25 billion in remaining performance obligations, with plans to triple core revenue by 2027. Morgan Stanley maintained its Overweight rating while cutting its target to $178 from $279 on Nov. 9.

QXO (NYSE:QXO) — Q3 — 4:15 p.m. ET

EPS: $0.14 est. vs. $0.14 a year ago
Revenue: $4.87 billion est. vs. $2.73 billion a year ago (+79%)
Stock: +25.5% past month, -28.3% YTD, 49.9% below its 52-week high
Analyst view: Buy consensus, $21 target (6 analysts)

The building-products distributor has beaten estimates in just three of its past eight quarters, with investors weighing acquisition-driven revenue growth against execution and the company’s still-volatile stock setup. In Q2, it beat the revenue estimate. Wells Fargo maintained its Overweight rating while cutting its target to $15 from $16 in October.

Also Reporting Before The Bell

Mobility Global (NYSE:MBGL) — $0.38 EPS on $474.6 million revenue
NIQ Global Intelligence (NYSE:NIQ) — $0.22 EPS on $1.11 billion revenue
Forgent Power Solutions (NYSE:FPS) — $0.19 EPS on $463.0 million revenue
Belite Bio (NASDAQ:BLTE) — -$0.76 EPS
Octave Intelligence (NASDAQ:OCTV) — $0.30 EPS on $404.2 million revenue
SOLV Energy (NASDAQ:MWH) — $0.58 EPS on $1.20 billion revenue
Figure Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:FIGR) — $0.33 EPS on $252.5 million revenue
DPC Holdings (NYSE:DPC) — $0.22 EPS on $266.7 million revenue
Accelerant Holdings (NYSE:ARX) — $0.20 EPS on $266.5 million revenue
YETI Holdings (NYSE:YETI) — $0.82 EPS on $522.5 million revenue
Ondas (NASDAQ:ONDS) — -$0.10 EPS
X-Energy (NASDAQ:XE) — -$0.14 EPS on $59.9 million revenue

Also on the calendar: Cellebrite DI (CLBT), Aveanna Healthcare Holdings (AVAH), Legence (LGN) and Spectrum Brands Holdings (SPB).

Plus 41 companies valued between $100 million and $2 billion, including Standard Nuclear, Intuitive Machines and Wolverine World Wide.

Also Reporting After The Bell

Stantec (NYSE:STN) — $1.24 EPS on $1.30 billion revenue
Andersen Group (NYSE:ANDG) — $1.05 EPS on $332.9 million revenue
Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ARWR) — -$1.52 EPS on $61.6 million revenue
HeartFlow (NASDAQ:HTFL) — -$0.12 EPS on $65.2 million revenue
DLocal (NASDAQ:DLO) — $0.21 EPS on $409.2 million revenue
Liftoff Mobile (NASDAQ:LFTO) — $0.20 EPS on $221.7 million revenue

Plus 47 companies valued between $100 million and $2 billion, including StoneCo, Hawkeye 360 and Flowers Foods.

Timing to be confirmed: M-Tron Industries (MPTI).

Benzinga earnings calendar