Jefferies Takes The Bait On CIENA, Upgrades To Buy

• Shares of Ciena Corporation CIEN are down 23 percent since November 23 when they traded around $25.
• Jefferies’ George C. Notter upgraded the rating on the company from Hold to Buy, while raising the price target from $22.50 to $25.
• Ciena continues to execute well, but needs to show consistent improvement for an increase in its valuations, Notter noted.

The risk/reward of Ciena’s shares is good, with the company’s strength indicated by its backlog, recent project wins and margin expansion. Analyst Geroge Notter expects the “confluence of events” currently impacting Ciena’s business to improve throughout 2016.

The company’s revenues are expected to grow given the Verizon Communications Inc. VZ 100G metro deployment, the new Long Haul and Metro WDM market share at AT&T Inc. T, renewed spending by Comcast Corporation CMCSA and new project wins via their partnership with Ericsson (ADR) ERIC, Notter stated.

Renewed investment in FTTP/FTTN broadband networks is expected to spur Optical/Transport demand, the Jefferies report stated.

Notter noted that Ciena continues to execute well with its top line growing consistently and market share and margins expanding. “Further, we think it’s a better business than investors give them credit for right now.”

The analyst added that it may take some time for the company to return to its historical valuations. Ciena needs to rebuild consistency around its quarterly results and demonstrate that they are on track to achieve the 7 percent organic growth expectation for F2016.