New York, June 4, 2026, 09:09 (EDT)
- Ciena topped Wall Street’s fiscal Q2 revenue and adjusted earnings forecasts and lifted its full-year sales target.
- The stock dropped in premarket trading, as expectations for AI-related networking stocks remain high.
- Optical peers fell after a strong rally earlier this week.
Ciena Corp shares fell in premarket trading Thursday. The networking equipment maker posted strong quarterly results and raised its sales outlook, but that wasn’t enough for investors who had bet on a bigger AI-fueled surge.
Ciena was last quoted at $561.51 in premarket trading, down 9.49% from its Wednesday close at $620.37, according to Investing.com. The site listed Ciena’s 52-week high at $637.51, showing the stock had been near its highs before the earnings print.
Ciena did what the market expected and posted the numbers. Still, the stock’s reaction points to investors looking for something bigger than a simple beat. Even strong results may not be enough when investors are already crowded into AI infrastructure plays.
Ciena’s revenue for the fiscal second quarter came in at $1.57 billion, rising 40% from last year. Adjusted earnings per share reached $1.64. Adjusted EPS removes items that management excludes from GAAP results. Ciena set its fiscal third-quarter revenue outlook at $1.625 billion, plus or minus $50 million. The company also lifted its revenue forecast for fiscal 2026 to $6.3 billion, plus or minus $100 million.
Results came in ahead of Wall Street’s forecasts. Barron’s said analysts were looking for adjusted EPS of $1.46 and revenue at $1.51 billion. The stock dropped 5.7% before the bell, with investors apparently looking for higher guidance, according to Barron’s.
Ciena CEO Gary Smith said the results reflected “disciplined execution in a dynamic supply environment” and connected the company’s plan to “structural, multi-year opportunities created by AI-driven demand.” CFO Marc Graff pointed to “significant year-over-year revenue growth” for the quarter and “nearly fourfold growth in adjusted earnings per share.” Ciena Investor Relations
Ciena makes optical networking gear and software to handle heavy data flows for telecom, cloud and data center operators. Those customers are ramping up spending on faster connections for AI systems, keeping Ciena close to the heart of the AI build-out as tech giants demand quicker links between their chips, servers and data centers.
Optical networking stocks were down in premarket trading, with Barron’s pointing to drops in Lumentum, Coherent and Marvell Technology. This follows a jump for the sector earlier this week. All three stocks are seen as tied to hopes that AI data centers will drive demand for optical transport.
Ciena was under some pressure from the wider market too. Reuters said S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures fell early Thursday after Broadcom’s revenue miss dragged chip stocks lower and weighed on AI names in premarket trading.
Ciena’s outlook was ahead of some consensus numbers, but that wasn’t enough to keep shares from selling off. MarketScreener said Ciena sees fiscal 2026 revenue between $6.2 billion and $6.4 billion. FactSet had the consensus at $6.18 billion. Second-quarter revenue came in at $1.57 billion, above the $1.50 billion FactSet estimate, according to MarketScreener.
Ciena is seeing AI-driven order patterns that can be uneven. Two customers made up 34% of revenue last quarter, so any slowdown in spending or shipment delays could have a big impact. Ciena flagged risks tied to customer order timing, tariffs, competition, supply issues, and how fast AI network spending grows.
Right now, the main question isn’t about the demand. This quarter proves it’s there. The stock move shows the expectations just shifted again.
