Zacks Research Issues Pessimistic Outlook for Ciena Earnings

Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) – Zacks Research lowered their Q2 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Ciena in a research report issued on Tuesday, April 1st. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now anticipates that the communications equipment provider will post earnings of $0.23 per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $0.33. The consensus estimate for Ciena’s current full-year earnings is $1.60 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Ciena’s Q3 2025 earnings at $0.35 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $0.46 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $1.46 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $0.33 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $0.48 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $0.64 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $0.68 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $2.14 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $3.05 EPS.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on CIEN. B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $89.00 target price (down previously from $97.00) on shares of Ciena in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Northland Securities raised shares of Ciena from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $60.00 to $75.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Barclays set a $100.00 target price on shares of Ciena and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Ciena from $80.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Ciena from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $95.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ciena currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.38.

Ciena Price Performance

Shares of Ciena stock opened at $53.53 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.61 billion, a PE ratio of 93.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a current ratio of 3.55, a quick ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Ciena has a 12 month low of $43.30 and a 12 month high of $101.44. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $75.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.08.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CIEN. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Ciena by 1.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,408,014 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $148,348,000 after purchasing an additional 33,074 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Ciena during the 4th quarter valued at $245,000. US Bancorp DE increased its stake in shares of Ciena by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 10,459 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $887,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Ciena during the 4th quarter valued at about $421,000. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC bought a new stake in Ciena during the fourth quarter worth about $755,000. Institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ciena news, SVP Jason Phipps sold 18,888 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.88, for a total value of $1,131,013.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 89,258 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,344,769.04. This represents a 17.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary B. Smith sold 6,800 shares of Ciena stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.29, for a total transaction of $579,972.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 418,949 shares in the company, valued at $35,732,160.21. The trade was a 1.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 66,200 shares of company stock worth $4,921,513. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ciena Company Profile

Ciena Corporation provides hardware and software services for delivery of video, data, and voice traffic metro, aggregation, and access communications network worldwide. The company’s Networking Platforms segment offers convergence of coherent optical transport, open optical networking, optical transport network switching, IP routing, and switching services.