Verdict: Side-by-side breakdown using the Bull Rankings model. CSCO scored 57.1, VSAT scored 22.0 — CSCO leads.
Compare another set
CSCO
Cisco Systems, Inc.
Communication Equipment · Quality-Growth
57.1
$118.39 · $466.8B
fundamentals as of
Score gap
35.1
CSCO leads
VSAT
Viasat, Inc.
Communication Equipment · Quality-Growth
22
$72.01 · $9.9B
fundamentals as of
At a glance · who leads each dimension, on the model's own rules
Fastest growthCSCO+11.8%
Strongest balance sheetCSCO0.62
Highest qualityCSCO77 / 100
Side by side · every name on one set of axes
The model, pillar by pillar (0–100 each)
CSCO
stronger →← stronger
VSAT
77
Qualityreturns · margins · balance sheet
27
74
Growthrevenue & earnings expansion
26
32
Valuevaluation vs sector peers
15
CSCO is stronger on 3 of 3 pillars.
Fundamentals, head-to-head
CSCO
VSAT
$12.8bA-
FCF
$329mC
+11.8%B
Rev
+1.3%C
0.62C+
D/E
1.47C
35.6xB
P/E
—
1.06B+
PEG
0.26A
—
P/S
2.1xA-
Winner per row is the stronger grade; where grades tie, the better figure breaks it. A true tie or a missing value shows no highlight.
Valuation · DCF cross-check
CSCO
VSAT
115% above
Price vs fair valuelower is cheaper
243% above
~26%/yr
Growth the price impliesyr-1 FCF growth, fading to 4% · lower = less priced in
~37%/yr
-57%
1-yr DCF upside
-70%
-53%
5-yr DCF upside
-71%
-49%
10-yr DCF upside
-72%
The DCF is a cross-check on intrinsic value, separate from the quality-growth score above.
Model signals
CSCO
Why this score
Durable high returns
VSAT
Why this score
Diluting shareholders
The companies
CSCOCisco Systems, Inc.
Communication Equipment · $118.39 · beta 0.98
Why now
Communication Equipment · market cap $466.8b. 9% off the 52-week high of $130.37. Revenue growing +12%, comfortably above the S&P median. 25 sell-side analysts rate this a Buy with a mean 1-yr target of $136.16 (implying +15% upside).
Moat
Net margin 21% sits well above the S&P median (~11%) — suggests structural pricing advantage or cost discipline competitors can't quickly close. ROE 27% — top-decile capital efficiency. Either pricing leverage, low capital intensity, or aggressive buybacks; the durability story depends on which. FCF converts 96% of net income — earnings translate cleanly into cash.
Risk
Trailing P/E 36x sits well above the S&P median (~20x) — multiple compression is a real risk if revenue growth decelerates.
VSATViasat, Inc.
Communication Equipment · $72.01 · beta 1.76
Why now
Communication Equipment · market cap $9.9b. Down 23% from 52-week high of $93.03 — deep drawdown territory. PEG 0.26 — paying under fair value for the growth rate. 10 sell-side analysts publish a mean 1-yr target of $103.94 (implying +44% upside).
Moat
Turnaround / out-of-favor name — GAAP-unprofitable for now, so the durability case is forward-looking: it rests on a recovery (margin normalization, a cyclical upturn or restructuring) or an un-monetized asset (IP / network effects / first-mover position) rather than on current reported results.
Risk
Currently unprofitable (margin -0.6%) — path to GAAP profitability is the core thesis risk. Beta 1.76 implies above-market volatility — position-size to the drawdowns this name will produce in a market correction, not to its bull-case return. ROE -1% is below the long-run sustainable threshold of ~10% — capital efficiency would need to improve for the equity base to compound at the market rate.
Verdict — model-derived comparison
Generating verdict… typically 5–10 seconds
Not investment advice. The Bull Rankings publishes a quantitative ranking model and accompanying analysis for general informational purposes only. Nothing on this page is a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security; nothing is personalized to your circumstances, risk tolerance, or tax situation. Investing carries the risk of loss — invest at your own risk and consider consulting a licensed financial professional before acting on anything you read here. See terms and methodology for full disclosures.
Where CSCO and VSAT diverge
On the headline score the gap is 35.1 points in favor of CSCO. The widest single difference is Quality, where CSCO leads by 49.8 points.
QualityCSCO 77.2 · VSAT 27.4CSCO +49.8
GrowthCSCO 74.1 · VSAT 26.2CSCO +47.9
ValueCSCO 32.5 · VSAT 14.9CSCO +17.6
Pillars run 0–100. Value is judged against each company's own sector, so a Value score is a statement about a company relative to its own industry rather than to the other name here. A wide Value gap usually means the market already prices the difference in quality or growth — which is the trade-off this comparison comes down to.
Common questions
Is CSCO or VSAT the better stock?
CSCO scores higher: CSCO 57.1, VSAT 22.0 out of 100 on the Bull Rankings quality-growth score, which blends business quality, growth and valuation into one number. A higher score means a stronger business at a more reasonable price — it is not a price target or a recommendation.
Where do CSCO and VSAT differ most?
The widest gap is quality, where CSCO leads by 50 points on the 0–100 pillar scale. CSCO leads all three pillars, so the gap is broad rather than a single-measure difference.
How are CSCO and VSAT scored?
Each carries the same 0–100 quality-growth score used everywhere on the site, built from three pillars — quality (profitability and returns on capital), growth (revenue and earnings), and value (what you pay for them) — combined as a geometric mean, so a weak pillar cannot be papered over by a strong one.
How current is this comparison?
The whole universe is re-scored every trading day after the US market close, so the scores and fundamentals here reflect the latest published edition.