An article by AJ Tiarsmith on 247wallst.com recounts how Cisco briefly became the world's most valuable company at $80.06 a share on March 27, 2000, then fell 87.11% and took more than 25 years — until December 10, 2025 — to close higher, leaving peak buyers poorer even as the company grew. Tiarsmith draws the lesson for 2026's AI investors, noting Nvidia's $4.556 trillion value, its 37-times-earnings price and $279.0 billion in supply commitments, and arguing a great company bought at a peak multiple can deliver poor returns for decades.