CISCO SYSTEMS, INC. vs NVIDIA CORP. A side-by-side on valuation, growth, margins, returns, and what each price is betting.
Cisco carries 0.71 of debt for every dollar of equity and a current ratio of 0.92, short-term obligations slightly outrunning short-term assets, the footing of a mature networking vendor that funds itself partly on borrowed money. Nvidia barely borrows at all, a 0.05 debt-to-equity ratio and a current ratio of 3.44, holding more than three times the near-term assets it owes, which is what a balance sheet looks like when cash is arriving faster than it can be spent. That difference shows up in returns: Nvidia earns 53% on assets to Cisco's 9.5%, and 70% on equity it has not had to lever up. Oddly, the market still pays more for Cisco's earnings, 40 times to Nvidia's 36, even though Nvidia keeps a far larger slice of each sale. The clean, cash-flush balance sheet is the upstart's here, not the incumbent's, which is the reverse of the usual arrangement.
Comparison updated 2026-06-15.
| Metric | CSCO | NVDA |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $121.24 | $210.99 |
| Market cap | $482.8B | $5.15T |
| Sector | Computer Hardware | Semiconductors |
| Stage | Mature | Mature |
| P/E | 40.3 | 32.3 |
| P/B | 9.88 | 26.33 |
| P/S | 7.95 | 20.30 |
| EV/EBITDA | 36.0 | 31.5 |
| Revenue growth | +9.2% | +69.1% |
| Gross margin | 63.6% | 74.9% |
| Operating margin | 25.0% | 65.6% |
| Net margin | 19.7% | 54.3% |
| Return on equity | 24.5% | 70.4% |
| Return on assets | 9.5% | 53.1% |
| Return on invested capital | 14.2% | 66.1% |
| FCF yield | 2.4% | 2.3% |
| Dividend yield | 1.3% | 0.0% |
| Debt / equity | 0.71 | 0.05 |
| Current ratio | 0.92 | 3.44 |
| Altman Z (solvency) | 4.34 | 9.15 |
| Piotroski F (quality) | 6 / 9 | 4 / 9 |
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The stronger value is highlighted per metric where one is strictly better on that single number; it is not an overall verdict on either company. For informational and research purposes only. Not investment advice. Not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security. boothcheck is not a registered investment adviser. Past performance does not guarantee future results.