Ciena Shares Rally On Analyst Day Remarks

Ciena (CIEN) was up sharply Tuesday following a well-received meeting with analysts in New York.

In a brief post-meeting note, J.P. Morgan’s Ehud Gelbuam asserted that the company “effectively positively pre-announced” its fiscal fourth quarter ending October. He reports that CEO Gary Smith said he is “very” confident in Q4 revenue guidance of up 2% sequentially, or about $209 million. “With 4 weeks still to go in the quarter, we believe Smith’s comment is unusually bullish,” Gelbaum writes.

He also notes that Smith raised Q4 gross margin guidance to 47%-49%, from “high end of mid 40s.” Gelbaum says higher revenue and gross margins could add 4-5 cents to EPS; previous guidance was 41 cents ex stock compensation.

Gelbaum also notes that the company is seeing “very little pricing pressure” on its primary switching products.