Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Ciena (CIEN) Outpaces Stock Market Gains: What You Should Know

Read MoreHide Full Article

Ciena (CIEN - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $42.28, moving +1.76% from the previous trading session. This change outpaced the S&P 500's 0.49% gain on the day. At the same time, the Dow added 0.57%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.67%.

Heading into today, shares of the developer of high-speed networking technology had gained 19.77% over the past month, outpacing the Computer and Technology sector's gain of 5.11% and the S&P 500's gain of 3.03% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from CIEN as it approaches its next earnings release. On that day, CIEN is projected to report earnings of $0.38 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 15.15%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $821.83 million, up 5.56% from the prior-year quarter.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $2.60 per share and revenue of $3.80 billion, which would represent changes of +23.22% and +6.47%, respectively, from the prior year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for CIEN should also be noted by investors. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 1.82% higher within the past month. CIEN currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Looking at its valuation, CIEN is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 15.99. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 15.99, which means CIEN is trading at a no noticeable deviation to the group.

We can also see that CIEN currently has a PEG ratio of 0.93. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. The Fiber Optics industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 0.93 as of yesterday's close.

The Fiber Optics industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 109, putting it in the top 43% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


Ciena Corporation (CIEN) - free report >>

Published in