By Connor Hart

Ciena raised its outlook after logging higher profit and a jump in revenue in its fiscal first quarter, supported by continued demand for AI-driven networking.

The networking-systems and software company on Thursday posted a profit of $150.3 million, or $1.03 a share, for its quarter ended Jan. 31, compared with $44.6 million, or 31 cents a share, a year earlier.

Stripping out one-time items, earnings were $1.35 a share. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had expected adjusted earnings of $1.17 a share.

Revenue jumped 33% to $1.43 billion, just ahead of the $1.4 billion that Wall Street had modeled.

Ciena enables high-speed connectivity for telecommunications and data centers, helping tech giants such as Amazon.com and Microsoft support artificial-intelligence initiatives.

Chief Executive Gary Smith said the company is benefiting from unprecedented and broad-based demand. "With industry-leading technology and deep customer relationships, we are well positioned to meet multi-year demand as AI-driven networking continues to scale," he added.

Networking platforms, the segment that accounts for more than three-fourths of all revenue, notched sales of $1.15 billion, up 40% from a year earlier. Revenue from the company's global-services unit climbed 26% to $164.1 million.

For the current quarter, Ciena guided for revenue of $1.45 billion to $1.55 billion, ahead of analyst views for $1.44 billion.

For the year, the company now expects revenue of $5.9 billion to $6.3 billion, up from a prior outlook of $5.7 billion to $6.1 billion and compared with Wall Street models for $5.97 billion.

Finance chief Marc Graff said Ciena is poised to deliver strong results throughout the rest of the year and into the next, supported by continued demand, as well as a strong order book and backlog.

Shares fell 4.5%, to $328.10, in premarket trading. Through Wednesday's close, the stock was up more than fivefold over the past year, riding a wave of demand for cabling and communications systems at AI data centers.

Write to Connor Hart at connor.hart@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 05, 2026 07:39 ET (12:39 GMT)

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