CIENA Corp.

Q3 performance was record-setting (and beat guidance): Revenues were $1.67B (Tep top end), up 37% YoY and a quarterly record. Adjusted operating margin = 22.5%, above guidance and the highest ever for Ciena; adjusted gross margin = 46.4%. Adjusted EPS = $2.11, up 215% YoY (record). Demand strength showed up in orders accelerating (book-to-bill > 1) and a backlog jump of +$800M to $8.5B exiting Q3.

Demand outlook is unusually strong and backlog is expected to keep expanding: Management emphasized the industry is in an early multiyear “network investment era” driven by AI and data center buildout (bandwidth growth, low-latency optics, higher density, power/space constraints). They expect backlog to grow even faster in Q4 and are projecting to exit FY26 with >$10B backlog; notably 1 month into Q4 orders booked are approaching all of Q3. They view this as lead-time constrained rather than demand constrained (supply capacity is the bottleneck).

FY26 guidance (Q4) and early FY27 outlook (preliminary direction): - Q4 FY26 revenue: $1.75B ± $50M (raised full-year midpoint to $6.42B). - FY26 profitability: Adjusted gross margin 45% ± 50 bps, adjusted operating margin ~20% ± 50 bps; Ciena expects FY26 operating margin to exceed 20% for the first time. - FY27 preliminary expectation: revenue growth ≥30% YoY to $8.3B–$8.4B, gross margin 45–46%, and adjusted operating margin 25–27% (another record). They said FY27 guidance may be higher with supply upside.