Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO), much like most technology stocks, has had a violent couple of months trading. Back in November, I wrote an article about its upside potential and Cisco stock temporarily delivered. Unfortunately, the market-wide Christmas collapse took CSCO down, and my pride with it.

The 2019 bullish start of the year recovered all of that, so the stock went into earnings with a lot of pent-up pressure. Last night, Cisco reported earnings and Wall Street liked what it saw. This morning, Cisco stock is rallying 4% on the headline, so CSCO more than delivered on the expectations.

In fact, Cisco beat on both the top and bottom lines. These days, a solid profit and loss statement is not good enough … investors want to see strong guidance. Cisco managed that and increased its quarterly dividend by 6% and added an additional $15 billion to its stock buyback plan.

Fundamentally, Cisco is a survivor of dot-com bubble, so its management has proven it can execute on plans even through tough times. CSCO stock sells a 15X price-earnings ratio, meaning value is not a threat to Cisco’s stock price action. This valuation is in line with other tech companies like Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) and Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA).

For the long-term, if I own the stock I would hold it. Because if the stock market is higher then so is the Cisco stock. Critics could argue with me on that point since it is nowhere near its highs of $80 per share.

So. from a trading perspective, I turn my attention to the shorter-term time frames to evaluate a stock entry point here. The stock has failed on two occasions near $49 for share in the past and since October. So there are some headwinds in that zone. But those also serve potential as breakout levels. There are also some technical patterns developing from this repeated testing of the neckline that has been resistance for a while. If the bulls can muster up enough energy to break through $49.50, then this rally could have another $5 left in it or more.

So is it too late to buy the stock after this earnings Spike? Not necessarily.

Nimble traders can still capture the rest of this breakout unfolding here. But I understand the hesitation of buying a stock that has run so far so fast. CSCO has already rallied 16% coming into the earnings so from here some would say that this rally is long in the tooth. Also, the markets overall are in a similar situation. So traders expect them to give back a little bit to release some tension before they can continue on higher.

But without any regressive headlines from the negotiations with China or from the passing of the U.S. funding bill, I anticipate that this rally will continue and retest the S&P 500 last failing zone near 2,825. So Cisco stock will need the overall market’s help to cooperate to fill this upside potential.

The bottom line is that Cisco stock has had a great recovery, but this earnings report is reason enough to launch it into another leg higher. Perhaps it’s not too late to get in.

Nicolas Chahine is the managing director of SellSpreads.com. As of this writing, he did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. You can follow him as @racernic on Twitter and Stocktwits.