Alerts for CIEN
01What does it supply?
Products, customers, and where it sits in the AI stack.
What the company does
Optical networking equipment and software for telecom carriers and cloud providers.
Its role in AI
Supplies the long-haul and data-center-interconnect optics that link AI sites across regions.
02How much does AI matter to its business?
Partial. One line of business, or an indirect beneficiary.
Reported figures come from the company's own filings and releases. Estimates are third-party or editorial and are kept separate. The exposure label is an editorial judgment.
Reported by the company
- Cloud provider revenue was 53% of total revenue, up 82% year-over-year; total revenue $1.67 billion, up 37% YoY from $1.22 billion.Source · Fiscal Q3 2026, quarter ended August 1, 2026
- Optical Networking revenue $1,191.3 million (71.3% of revenue); Routing and Switching $164.4 million (9.8%); two customers each over 10% of revenue totaled 41.7% of revenue.Source · Fiscal Q3 2026, quarter ended August 1, 2026
- Pluggables revenue more than doubled YoY and WaveLogic 6 nano 800ZR pluggable shipments more than doubled quarter over quarter; RLS and Waveserver revenue each grew more than 55% YoY.Source · Fiscal Q3 2026, quarter ended August 1, 2026
- Guidance: fiscal Q4 2026 revenue $1.75 billion plus or minus $50 million; fiscal 2026 revenue $6.42 billion plus or minus $50 million (35% YoY at midpoint); fiscal 2027 revenue growth of at least 30%.Source · Guidance issued Sept 3, 2026
Estimates
No third-party or editorial estimates are listed for CIEN. Only company-reported figures are shown at present.
Key financial metrics, by reporting period
Company-reported, via TradingView03What should visitors watch next?
Earnings, product launches, customer spending, and the risks that matter.
Next earnings
No announced date on file. Check the investor relations page.
Last earnings release: 2026-09-03 (8-K)
Watch list
- Fiscal Q4 2026 revenue versus guidance of $1.75 billion plus or minus $50 million, with adjusted gross margin 45.0% plus or minus 50 bps source
- Whether backlog exits fiscal 2026 above $10 billion and fiscal 2027 revenue guidance of at least 30% growth ($8.3-$8.4 billion) is confirmed source
- Continued ramp of WaveLogic 6 800ZR pluggables and the hyperscaler direct performance optics module order/second multi-rail win source
Growth drivers
- CEO Gary Smith: 'AI continues to drive compounding waves of network investment,' with AI driving significant increases in bandwidth connectivity demand and network traffic growth source
- Direct cloud provider revenue grew over 80%, and the company is projecting to exit fiscal 2026 with over $10 billion in backlog source
- 10-K: AI workloads and cloud services driving data center interconnect scaling, WaveLogic coherent modem technology and interconnect pluggables for AI infrastructure source
Risks
- Revenue is concentrated among a small number of customers (five largest ~50% of fiscal 2025 revenue; one cloud provider ~18%), and reductions in their spending could materially hurt results source
- Dependence on third-party suppliers and limited sources of supply, with electro-optical and semiconductor components constrained by AI/cloud demand, causing extended lead times and higher costs source
- Tariffs and other import measures imposed by the U.S. or other countries could adversely affect the business given manufacturing in Canada, Mexico, China, Thailand and Vietnam source
The company's own risk factors: 10-K filed 2025-12-12, Item 1A.
Recent developments: SEC filings
Source: SEC EDGAR · refreshed every 15 min- 10-QQuarterly report2026-09-03documentfolder
- 8-KEarnings release · items 2.02,9.012026-09-03documentfolder
- 8-KCurrent report · items 1.01,2.03,3.02,8.01,9.012026-06-11documentfolder
- 8-KCurrent report · items 8.01,9.012026-06-08documentfolder
- 10-QQuarterly report2026-06-04documentfolder
- 8-KEarnings release · items 2.02,9.012026-06-04documentfolder
- 8-KCurrent report · items 5.072026-03-31documentfolder
- 10-QQuarterly report2026-03-05documentfolder
- 8-KEarnings release · items 2.02,9.012026-03-05documentfolder
- DEF 14AProxy statement2026-02-12documentfolder
- 10-KAnnual report2025-12-12documentfolder
- 8-KEarnings release · items 2.02,9.012025-12-11documentfolder
Insider trades
Form 4, last 6 filings| Insider | Transaction | Shares | Avg price | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
SMITH GARY B Director, President, CEO | Open-market sale · disposed | 2,952 | $362.90 | 2026-09-02 |
Graff Marc D. SVP & Chief Financial Officer | Open-market sale · disposed | 4,995 | $430.72 | 2026-08-18 |
Rothenstein David M SVP and Chief Strategy Officer | Open-market sale · disposed | 2,500 | $438.10 | 2026-08-18 |
Gage Brodie SVP Global Products & Supply | Open-market sale · disposed | 1,200 | $439.24 | 2026-08-18 |
SMITH GARY B Director, President, CEO | Open-market sale · disposed | 2,952 | $447.78 | 2026-08-18 |
Graff Marc D. SVP & Chief Financial Officer | Tax withholding · disposed | 14,441 | $377.05 | 2026-08-04 |
News
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Compare all →Original sources
- Investor relations — earnings dates, releases, presentations
- SEC EDGAR company page — every filing (CIK 0000936395)
- Latest annual report (10-K) — filed 2025-12-12
- TradingView symbol page — full chart and data
Research note — Fiscal year ends around Nov 1; Q3 FY2026 (ended Aug 1, 2026) reported Sept 3, 2026. No fiscal Q4 reporting-date announcement found on investor.ciena.com as of 2026-09-17. Backlog and cloud-share figures come from the company's earnings presentation and call transcript hosted on its IR CDN, not the press release.