Cisco's management score of 97 lines up with a 13.0% return on invested capital, a 64.5% gross margin, and debt to equity of 0.59x, which together describe a business that uses capital efficiently and carries little leverage. The moat score of 36 sits far below that. This is not a badly run company; it is a well-run company whose growth has stalled, and the moat score measures compounding rather than competence.
That stall drives everything below it. Growth measured over the period is 5.0%, and a company growing at that rate earns a low exit multiple — 9.8x here, close to the model's floor of 8. A modest growth rate compounded for a decade and then capitalised at a single-digit multiple produces an intrinsic value of $13.07 against a share price of $109.51. The cash-flow anchors are more forgiving, at $34.54 and $34.50, but they point the same direction.
The tension is straightforward. The price implies a re-acceleration that the last decade of figures does not contain, while the balance sheet and capital discipline remain genuinely strong. A margin of safety score of 6 is a statement about the gap between those two things, not a verdict on the company.
| Price | $109.51 |
| Market cap | $431.6B |
| P/E ratio | 32.9x |
| Return on invested capital | 13.0% |
| Gross margin | 64.5% |
| Debt to equity | 0.59x |
| Free cash flow yield | 2.8% |
| Growth rate used | 4.9% |
| Growth rate measured | 5.0% |
| Exit multiple assumed | 9.8x |
Every number above is built on assumptions that can be changed. In Moatly you can move the growth rate, the exit multiple and the margin of safety and watch every figure recalculate, so you are testing your own view of Cisco rather than accepting ours.