Ciena Swings To Profit, Topping Estimates

Networking equipment provider Ciena Corp. reported Thursday morning it had swung to a profit that beat analysts' targets. For the quarter ending July 31st, Ciena reported net income of $28.3 million ($0.29/share), compared to a loss of $4.3 million ($0.05/share) in the year-earlier period. Last year's results included an $11 million restructuring charge. Excluding costs from a legal settlement and stock-based compensation, the company earned $40 million ($0.41/share). Analysts were expecting earnings of $0.31/share. Revenue was up 34% to $205 million from $152 million a year earler, beating analysts' estimates of $203.3 million. "Consistent execution of our network specialist strategy has enabled Ciena to benefit from two significant industry trends: the demand for increasing network capacity and the transition to Ethernet/IP-based network infrastructures," said CEO Gary Smith. Ciena sells equipment to Internet providers, increasing the speed with which their networks deliver video and audio content. Ciena shares closed down 3.2% to $37.20.

Sources: Press Release, Bloomberg, AP
Commentary: Ciena and The Future of Carrier Ethernet • Goldman Sachs Favors Cisco, Ciena As Telecom Demand Grows
Stocks/ETFs to watch: CIEN. Competitors: ALU, CSCO, NT. ETFs: PXQ.
Earnings call transcript: Ciena F2Q07 (Qtr End 4/30/07)

Seeking Alpha's news briefs are combined into a pre-market summary called Wall Street Breakfast. Get Wall Street Breakfast by email -- it's free and takes only seconds to sign up.