CIENA CORP · Telephone & Telegraph Apparatus

CIEN

Low riskAI: Servers and networkingNext report: Around Dec 10 (est.)

View price ↗

The short version

A profitable company with growing sales.

Going well

Sales up 37% in the latest quarter vs a year ago
Profitable
Sales up 19% last year

Money moves

Insiders sold $5.4M in the last 30 days, all through pre-planned sales
Institutions cut 1.3% from their holdings in the quarter ending June 2026 (710 bought, 486 sold)
Held by Ray Dalio (Bridgewater)

Facts from SEC filings, not a recommendation.

What the price means

Price as of Oct 26

$336.11+5.0% that day

Company value: $47.7B; Share price times all shares
Price vs profit (P/E): 75.0x; You pay about $75 for each $1 of yearly profit
Price vs sales: 7.9x; Company value is 7.9 times a year of sales
Cash vs value: 5%; Cash as a share of company value
Debt vs value: 3%; Debt as a share of company value

From CIEN's last IEX trade and its SEC filings (profits and sales over the last four quarters). A starting point for research, not a verdict.

The business over time

Last 12 quarters, from SEC filings

Sales, Aug '26

$1.7B+37% vs a year earlier

Oct '23Tap a barAug '26

Last 12 months: $6.0B, up 33% from the 12 months before. Over 5 years, sales grew about 6.2% a year.

What the price assumes

Your guesses, our math

Move the sliders to your own view of CIEN. Starting points are the company's recent numbers.

Sales growth+30% a yearRecently: +33% a yearProfit margin11%Last 12 months: 10.9%P/E at the end40xToday: 75.0x. Many steady companies trade at 12x to 25xShare count change-2% a yearBelow zero means buybacks; above zero means new shares (dilution)

Sales in 5 years$22.4B

Profit in 5 years$2.5B

Price these guesses point to$767.36+128% vs $336.11 todayAbout +18% a year, before dividends

What today's price needs: with a 11% margin and a 40x P/E, sales would have to grow about 10% a year for 5 years just to match today's price.

Simple math on your guesses, not a forecast or a price target. Real results depend on many things these sliders leave out.

Price

Price chart by TradingView.

Word of mouth

Updated daily

People looking up the company, yesterday: 1.6x normal; 166 views vs about 104 on a usual day

Forum talk counts mentions of CIEN in popular online stock forums, a slice of the internet rather than all of it. Company lookups show interest in the company itself, which can come from news that isn't about the stock. Attention isn't quality.

Business quality

The checklist Warren Buffett-style investors use. Annual numbers for 2025.

3/7Mixed

MissReturn on equity 15%+Earns a lot on the money owners have in the business.4.4%
MissDebt under half of equityNot relying on borrowed money.0.55x equity
MissNet margin 10%+Keeps at least 10 cents of profit from each dollar of sales.2.6%
MissProfitable every yearSteady profits, not one good year.9 of 10 years
PassFree cash flow positiveBrings in more cash than it spends to run and grow.$665.3M
PassShare count not growingNot diluting owners. Falling means buybacks.-4.6% in 3 years
PassGross margin 40%+Pricing power: sells for well above what it costs to make.42.0%

Revenue: $4.8B; +18.8% vs prior year
5-year growth: +6.2%/yr; revenue, per year
Total debt: $1.5B; 0.55x equity
Current ratio: 2.81x; short-term assets / bills due

From annual reports filed with the SEC. A checklist is a starting point for research, not a verdict.

Latest quarter

Quarter ended Aug 1, 2026

Reported Sep 3

Revenue: $1.7B; +37.0% YoY
EPS: $1.83; vs $0.35
Op. margin: 18.0%; +12.0 pts
Gross margin: 45.4%; +4.1 pts
Free cash flow: $116.3M
Share count: +1.0%; vs a year ago

Insider rating

Last 90 days

25Selling

2 insiders sold $2.4M (not pre-planned)
Pre-planned sales of $6.0M (weaker signal)

50 is neutral. Buying by more insiders, top executives and bigger stakes raises it. Selling lowers it; pre-planned sales count less.

Weekly insider trend

13 weeks agoBoughtSoldThis week

Filing buzz

Last 7 days vs normal

0/ 100

This week: 0
Normal week: 4.0
vs normal: 0.0x

SEC filings of any kind. 50 means a normal week.

Institutional ownership

Steady-1.3%

Institutions cut 1.3% from their holdings. 710 bought, 486 sold. 2 quarters of net selling in a row.

Shares held by institutions132.3M

Sep '24Jun '26

Safety check

From SEC filings

Share count growthYearly rate, last 3 years

-1.4%

Cash runwayAt last year's cash burn

Cash flow positive

Debt to equityLatest balance sheet: debt compared with what owners have

1.1x · $3.2B debt

Shares outstandingLatest reported

142M

Why low risk

1 offering filing in 6 months (may sell new shares)

Earnings reports

Last 12

Next reportAround Dec 10 (est.)Estimated from the same quarter last year

Results filedSep 3
Results filedJun 4
Results filedMar 5
Results filedDec 11, 2025
Results filedSep 4, 2025

Flags and big holders

Offerings 6 months, flags 12 months, holders 90 days

5%+ holder update (passive)Sep 3 · View filing ↗Big holder 5%+ holder update (passive)Aug 6 · View filing ↗Big holder Major agreementJun 11 · View filing ↗Offering

Insider trades

Open-market buys and sells, last 90 days

Bought$00 insiders

Sold$8.4M10 insiders, 9 pre-planned

Insider	Trade	Shares	Avg price	Value	Owns after	Date
Brodie GageEVP & Chief Product & Tech	Sell	1K	$344.08	$413K	34K	Oct 15Filing ↗
-3.4% of their holdings Pre-planned sale (10b5-1) Filed 4 days after
Dino DipernaEVP & Chief R&D Officer	Sell	890	$347.04	$309K	36K	Oct 15Filing ↗
-2.4% of their holdings $344.08 to $350.00 across 2 trades Pre-planned sale (10b5-1) Filed 4 days after
David M RothensteinEVP & Chief Strategy Officer	Sell	3K	$348.06	$870K	173K	Oct 15Filing ↗
-1.4% of their holdings Pre-planned sale (10b5-1) Filed 4 days after
Gary B SmithPresident & CEO	Sell	3K	$348.02	$1.0M	225K	Oct 15Filing ↗
-1.3% of their holdings Pre-planned sale (10b5-1) Also Director Filed 4 days after
Marc D. GraffEVP & Chief Financial Officer	Sell	97	$355.19	$34K	107K	Oct 1Filing ↗
-0.1% of their holdings Pre-planned sale (10b5-1) Filed 5 days after
Sheela KosarajuEVP & Chief Legal Officer	Sell	2K	$355.19	$746K	84K	Oct 1Filing ↗
-2.4% of their holdings Pre-planned sale (10b5-1) Filed 5 days after
Jason PhippsEVP & Chief Customer Officer	Sell	3K	$355.19	$934K	57K	Oct 1Filing ↗
-4.4% of their holdings Pre-planned sale (10b5-1) Filed 5 days after
Gary B SmithPresident & CEO	Sell	3K	$369.66	$1.1M	228K	Oct 1Filing ↗
-1.3% of their holdings Pre-planned sale (10b5-1) Also Director Filed 12 days after
Joseph CumelloEVP & General Mgr.	Sell	2K	$358.52	$569K	40K	Sep 25Filing ↗
-3.9% of their holdings Pre-planned sale (10b5-1) Filed 4 days after
Bruce L. ClaflinDirector	Sell	3K	$355.91	$1.0M	8K	Sep 24Filing ↗
-25.7% of their holdings Held via spousal trust Not a pre-planned sale Filed 4 days after
Thomas Michael NevensDirector	Sell	4K	$359.04	$1.3M	6K	Sep 23Filing ↗
-37.3% of their holdings Not a pre-planned sale Filed 2 days after