Ciena Corp. (CIEN: NYSE)
Shares of Ciena Corp. increased on Thursday after the company reported solid fourth quarter earnings that topped estimates. Revenue for the last quarter rose 21% from the year ago period and surpassed estimates.
North American sales were more than 60% of total revenue. Ciena fourth quarter earnings and sales were the best it had posted in several years. It also reported an increase in full-year earnings and revenue.
The network and strategy company also announced a new share repurchase program of at most $500 million. Ciena shares have climbed 53.6% since the year begun compared to the S&P 500 decline of 0.8%.
CIEN Earnings & Outlook
Ciena reported net income of $64 million or 34 cents per share, compared to $1.16 billion or $7.32 per share in the year-ago period. Adjusted for one-time items, Ciena earned $81 million or 53 cents a share, compared with $48.5 million, or $0.32 a share.
Sales during the quarter increased 21% to $899.4 million from $744.4 million a year earlier. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had expected earnings of 48 cents a share on revenue of $862.37 million.
For fiscal 2018, net loss was $344.7 million or $2.49 per share compared with net income of $1.262 billion or $7.53 a share for fiscal 2017. Excluding non-recurring items, Ciena earned $210.6 million, or $1.39 per share in fiscal 2018 compared to $177.7 million, or $1.14 per share in fiscal 2017.
Revenue for fiscal 2018 was $3.09 billion compared to $2.80 billion in fiscal 2017. The current Wall Street estimate is for adjusted earnings of 26 cents per share on sales of $725.62 million for the current quarter and $1.81 EPS on revenue of $1.81 billion for fiscal 2019.
Ciena CEO Comments
“We achieved outstanding financial results in our fourth quarter and fiscal 2018 due to continued execution of our proven strategy,” said Ciena CEO and president Gary B. Smith.
“The combination of our innovation strength, successful interception of market trends and sustained ability to take share and outperform the market, along with a thriving industry environment, gives us tremendous confidence in both the near and longer term outlook for our business,” Mr. Smith added.
Ciena Corp. Company Profile
Ciena Corporation engages in the provision of network and communication infrastructure. It operates through the following segments: Converged Packet Optical; Packet Networking; Optical Transport; and Software and Services.
The Converged Packet Optical segment develops and sells optical processors, switching systems, and operating system software. The Packet Networking segment includes service delivery switches, services aggregation switches, and ethernet packet configurations.
The Optical Transport segment manufactures and trades optical transport systems, common photonic layer, data networking products, data center interconnection, and virtual networks. The Software and Services segment provides wide area network controller, network functions virtualization platform, and software applications.
Ciena Corporation was founded by Patrick H. Nettles in 1992 and is headquartered in Hanover, Maryland. It competes with BlackBerry Ltd., Arris International PLC and EchoStar Corp. – CNN Money
