Episode summary
What Stock Will be the Next 1990s Cisco?
Zacks Market Edge
· · Hosts: Tracey Ryniec, Mark Zinski, Neena Mishra, Ethan Feller, John Blank
Summary
The host compares today’s AI-led market to the 1990s dot-com era and asks which stock could become this decade’s Cisco, the best-performing stock of the 1990s at a little over 10,000%. The core argument is that the biggest winners may not just be chipmakers, but the infrastructure companies enabling the AI buildout: data-center construction, cooling, power, and related systems.
The host narrows the field to Sterling Infrastructure, Vertiv, Nvidia, and Bloom Energy after reviewing five-year and year-to-date charts. Sterling and Vertiv are highlighted as the strongest long-term performers, with Nvidia still central because of its earnings power and much lower valuation than before. Bloom Energy is presented as a newer breakout, but more speculative because its multiple is much richer and estimates are less established.
Across the group, the host argues that earnings growth and backlog visibility matter more than simple market enthusiasm. The message is that the AI infrastructure trade is still early enough that pullbacks may be buying opportunities, and that investors can consider these names individually or through an ETF if they want broad exposure.
Key takeaways
- Sterling Infrastructure has risen 2,156% over five years and is the host’s top long-term momentum pick, helped by data-center construction demand.
- Vertiv is up 1,287% over five years and still shows strong earnings growth, with 2026 EPS expected to rise 46% and revenue 28%.
- Nvidia remains the anchor name in the AI trade, with the host pointing to a forward P/E of 23.5 and a PEG of 6 as evidence the stock has cooled.
- Bloom Energy is the most aggressive breakout candidate, but the host notes its forward P/E of 128 leaves it far more dependent on future execution.
- The host prefers AI infrastructure over pure chip exposure because the spending by Amazon and Microsoft has to flow into builders, power, and cooling.
- The host says the AI infrastructure trade is not over and advises watching for pullbacks rather than assuming the move is finished.
Notable quotes
“What will be the Cisco of the 1990s this decade”
“I've always liked the infrastructure play a lot more than the chip side”
“Sterling Infrastructure, ticker, STRL, Avertive, VRT, is that ticker. And then Nvidia, NVDA is that ticker”
“the AI infrastructure play is not over yet. And I believe every investor should be in it in some capacity”
How the episode opens
Stocks, bonds, ETFs, straight out of downtown Chicago. This is Zach's Market Edge. Welcome to Zach's Market Edge, the podcast about investing in your life.
I'm your host, Tracy Reinick, and this week I'm talking about how to find the next 1990s Cisco. Now, you may uh or may not be aware that there were four hot stocks in the 1990s that peaked in the dotcom bubble and these were called the tech titans and they included at least one that is in the magnificent 7 even today all these years later. So they were Microsoft, Intel, Dell, which is also back on the scene, and Cisco.
But Cisco was the best performing stock of the 1990s. It was up o little bit over 10,000% in that decade and really culminated at the end of the dotcom bubble there in 1999 into 2000 when it peaked. It was at the time one of the largest cap stocks on the stock market and it had all the trappings you would expect out of a big winning stock from the prior decade.
And that includes all the big mutual funds at the time. There was a lot less ETFs, but the mutual funds all had to own Cisco, including the Janis funds, which were some of the hottest funds of that decade. And uh all of their technology funds owned Cisco became a little risky once Cisco started to not perform as well in the 2000s, but all of us owned it.
similar to the MAG7 stocks of today. And so I was just thinking as the stock market is recovering from the Iran war pullback here in April of 2026 and a lot of the tech stocks starting to turn around again, especially those in the AI revolution. What will be the Cisco of the 1990s this decade?
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- dot-com boom
- ai revolution
- stock picking
- cisco legacy rally
Companies and tickers mentioned
- CSCO
- Cisco
Watch the episode
Watch “What Stock Will be the Next 1990s Cisco?” on YouTube
Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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