Why Is Networking Company Ciena Stock Plunging Thursday?

Ciena Corp CIEN reported a first-quarter fiscal 2024 revenue decline of 1.8% year-on-year to $1.04 billion, beating the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion.

The American telecommunications networking equipment and software services supplier reported an adjusted EPS of $0.66, beating the consensus of $0.48. The stock price plunged after the results.

Segments: Total Networking Platforms revenue declined by 5.6% Y/Y to $807.2 million, and Total Global Services increased by 12.6% Y/Y to $126.8 million.

Margins: The adjusted gross margin expanded by 200 bps to 45.7%. Adjusted operating margin grew by 60 bps to 13.2%.

Two customers represented 10%-plus of revenue for the quarter, combining for a total of 26.5% of revenue.

Ciena held $1.48 billion in cash and equivalents and generated $266.1 million in operating cash flow.

CEO Gary Smith said, “While we remain very confident in the strength and durability of bandwidth demand as a long-term driver of our business, it is taking longer than expected for service providers to work through high levels of inventory.”

Investors can gain exposure to the stock via SPDR S&P Telecom ETF XTL and The Future Fund Active ETF FFND.

Outlook: Ciena expects fiscal 2024 revenue of $4 billion – $4.3 billion, down from previous expectations for 1%-4% growth (2024 revenue estimate $4.5 billion). For fiscal year 2023, Ciena reported revenue of $4.39 billion.

The company continues to expect its 2024 adjusted gross margin in the mid-40s%.

The company projects second-quarter revenue of $850 million – $930 million below the consensus of $1.1 billion. The company foresees adjusted gross margin in the low-40s% for the second quarter.

Price Action: CIEN shares were trading lower by 13.89% at $53.35 on the last check Thursday.