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Makes optical networking equipment and software that carriers and hyperscalers use to move data over long-haul and metro fiber networks.
Makes optical networking equipment and software that carriers and hyperscalers use to move data over long-haul and metro fiber networks.
Sells optical networking systems that move data between cities and data centers, bundled with software and support contracts. It designs its own coherent chips, which pack more data onto each fibre, and builds its systems around them. Cloud companies have become a bigger share of its buyers beside telecom carriers.
Moat: narrow (IP / patents, customer qualification, process know-how). Leading coherent-optics technology (WaveLogic) and carrier-grade reliability create sticky, qualified positions.
Headquarters: Hanover, Maryland, US · Founded: 1992 · Employees: 9,080
Size Ciena (CIEN) is a United States Information Technology company (Telecommunications Equipment) with a market value of $34.5B, the 328th largest of 3,117 United States companies the cockpit tracks. Shares closed at $243.39 on 6 Nov 2026.
Performance Over six months the shares fell 55.6%, against -12.6% for the median peer and -1.1% for the United States market (cap-weighted) — lowest of 16 in its peer set.
Growth Revenue grew 32.6% over the last twelve months (peer median +8.1%); the operating margin is 14.1% (peer median 4.8%).
Valuation It trades at 23.4× forward earnings against a peer median of 18.4× (6th most expensive of 15).
Price implies For today's price to make sense, revenue must grow about 29% a year for seven years (Req g). Recent delivered growth is +6%, so the hurdle is +23 pp: the price needs faster growth than the company has been delivering — of companies that just grew 25–50% a year, 93.8% slowed down over the next four years.
Capital Return on invested capital runs 7.1 points above its cost of capital (11.0% WACC).
Backlog Backlog (remaining performance obligations) was $2.50B at 1 Aug 2026, up 25% on a year earlier — 0.4 years of trailing revenue. Backlog detail →
Short interest Short interest is 2.8% of the free float (15 Oct 2026).
Next results Next results expected around 10 Dec 2026 (exchange calendar; dates can move).
| TTM | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $6.02B | $4.77B | $4.01B | $4.39B | $3.63B |
| Revenue growth | — | +19% | -8% | +21% | — |
| Gross profit | $2.51B | $1.88B | $1.60B | $1.75B | $1.43B |
| EBITDA | $1.03B | $451M | $325M | $527M | $397M |
| Net income | $654M | $123M | $84.0M | $255M | $153M |
| Free cash flow | $814M | $665M | $375M | $62.1M | -$259M |
| Capital expenditure | $240M | $141M | $137M | $106M | $90.8M |
| Total debt | $3.29B | $1.63B | $1.63B | $1.66B | $1.19B |
The default views of Competitor Analysis ▸ Charts, drawn from the same data. Open them in the cockpit to change the axes, pin companies and read every value.
| Company | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ciena CIEN | $34.5B | -56% | +33% | 14% | 23.4× | 29.0% |
| NOK NOK | $47.0B | -40% | +10% | 14% | 16.6× | 13.5% |
| Cisco CSCO | $369B | -3% | +12% | 25% | 18.4× | 15.0% |
| Coherent COHR | $38.0B | -42% | +23% | 14% | 16.6× | n/a |
| Marvell Technology MRVL | $124B | -17% | +31% | 17% | 25.0× | 54.4% |
| ZTE 0763.HK | $19.0B | -27% | +20% | 1% | 14.6× | 17.5% |
| ADTRAN ADTN | $329M | -73% | +10% | 0% | 12.9× | n/a |
| Nec 6701.T | $36.3B | +5% | +7% | 12% | 18.6× | 5.5% |
| Fujitsu 6702.T | $35.4B | +1% | +4% | 10% | 18.0× | 4.1% |
Peer set: Industry: the same industry and sector in any market, nearest in size. This is the same default set the interactive Competitor Analysis opens with.
| Measure | CIEN | Peer median | Rank in peer set |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-month return | -42.9% | -3.8% | lowest of 16 |
| 6-month return | -55.6% | -12.6% | lowest of 16 |
| Distance from 52-week high | -61.8% | -32.6% | lowest of 16 |
| Revenue growth (TTM) | +32.6% | +8.1% | 3rd highest of 16 |
| Operating margin | 14.1% | 4.8% | 5th highest of 16 |
| Forward P/E | 23.4× | 18.4× | 6th most expensive of 15 |
| Growth the price implies (Req g, 7 yrs) | 29.0% | 17.4% | 2nd most demanding of 12 |
| Growth delivered (Del g) | +6.2% | +9.5% | 5th lowest of 12 |
| Hurdle (Req g minus delivered) | +22.8 pp | +10.6 pp | 2nd most demanding of 12 |
| ROIC minus cost of capital | +7.1 pp | +1.5 pp | 7th highest of 16 |
| EV / EBITDA | 34.3× | 15.2× | most expensive of 8 |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 0.6× | -0.3× | 3rd most indebted of 8 |
| Company | Market | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g | Delivered g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ciena CIEN | United States | $34.5B | -56% | +33% | 14% | 23.4× | 29.0% | +6.2% |
| Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson ERIC-A.ST | Sweden | $34.9B | -9% | -4% | 14% | 17.3× | -8.7% | +0.4% |
| Ubiquiti UI | United States | $35.9B | -30% | +27% | 36% | 33.5× | 22.2% | +11.5% |
| Nokia NOKIA.HE | Finland | $44.3B | -37% | +4% | 14% | 19.2× | 17.4% | -1.9% |
| Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology 002415.SZ | China | $49.1B | -3% | +8% | 19% | 17.5× | 2.6% | +7.8% |
| Accton Technology 2345.TW | Taiwan | $21.6B | -49% | +82% | 14% | 12.5× | 4.5% | +35.4% |
| ZTE 0763.HK | Hong Kong | $19.0B | -27% | +20% | 1% | 14.6× | 17.5% | +4.9% |
| ZTE 000063.SZ | China | $19.0B | -23% | +14% | 1% | 24.2× | 19.0% | +5.6% |
| TCL Technology 000100.SZ | China | $15.0B | +7% | +5% | 0% | 13.1× | -4.7% | +19.1% |
| Motorola Solutions MSI | United States | $85.1B | +34% | +10% | 25% | 27.0× | 16.4% | +9.5% |
| Huaqin 603296.SS | China | $12.7B | -13% | +28% | 2% | 17.1× | n/a | n/a |
| Xiaomi-w 1810.HK | Hong Kong | $99.0B | -2% | +6% | 3% | 27.8× | 24.3% | +12.4% |
| Shenzhen Transsion 688036.SS | China | $11.6B | +13% | -1% | 5% | 21.8× | n/a | n/a |
| Foxconn Industrial Internet 601138.SS | China | $120B | -35% | +60% | 5% | 13.1× | n/a | n/a |
| China Spacesat 600118.SS | China | $9.75B | -46% | +6% | 1% | 531.4× | n/a | n/a |
| ViaSat VSAT | United States | $8.81B | -9% | +1% | 2% | n/a | 42.8% | +15.5% |
Ciena reported $2.50B of remaining performance obligations at 1 Aug 2026, up 25% from a year earlier and flat from the previous quarter. That is 0.4 years of trailing revenue already under contract. Book-to-bill last quarter: 1.00.