Ciena Shares Drop 16% Despite Q1 Beat as Revenue Outlook Disappoints

Font: Financial Modeling Prep  • Mar 05, 2026

Ciena Corporation (NYSE: CIEN) reported fiscal first-quarter 2026 results that exceeded analyst expectations, but shares fell more than 16% intra-day Thursday after the company issued full-year revenue guidance well below Wall Street forecasts.

The networking equipment provider posted adjusted earnings per share of $1.35, beating the analyst consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.19. Revenue increased 33% year over year to $1.43 billion, up from $1.07 billion in the prior-year period and slightly above the $1.4 billion consensus estimate. The company attributed the strong performance to broad-based demand driven by investments in artificial intelligence infrastructure.

However, Ciena projected fiscal 2026 revenue between $5.9 billion and $6.3 billion, which disappointed investors. The midpoint of $6.1 billion fell well below the analyst consensus estimate of $6.99 billion. For the second quarter, the company expects revenue of $1.5 billion, plus or minus $50 million.

The Optical Networking segment generated $1.02 billion in revenue during the quarter, accounting for 71.7% of total sales and rising from $728 million in the year-ago quarter. Three customers each accounted for more than 10% of revenue, together representing 47.4% of total sales.

During the quarter, Ciena repurchased approximately 0.4 million shares for $80.5 million under its existing $1 billion share buyback program. Adjusted operating margin improved to 17.9%, up from 12.3% in the same quarter last year.

For the second quarter, the company expects adjusted gross margin between 43.5% and 44.5%, with adjusted operating margin projected between 17.5% and 18.5%.