Ciena key statistics and ratios

In fiscal 2025, Ciena had return on equity of 4.4%, an operating margin of 4.1%, debt equal to 56.3% of equity and a current ratio of 2.73. Each ratio below is calculated from the figures on its income statement, balance sheet and cash flow pages.

Financial ratios

US$ thousands unless shown otherwise. Fiscal years, plus the last twelve months (LTM) when newer.

Ciena: financial ratios, annual
Fiscal year	2009Oct 2009	2010Oct 2010	2011Oct 2011	2012Oct 2012	2013Oct 2013	2014Oct 2014	2015Oct 2015	2016Oct 2016	2017Oct 2017	2018Nov 2018	2019Nov 2019	2020Oct 2020	2021Oct 2021	2022Oct 2022	2023Oct 2023	2024Nov 2024	2025Nov 2025	LTMAug 2026
Gross margin	43.6%	40.2%	40.7%	39.5%	41.5%	41.4%	44.0%	44.7%	44.5%	42.5%	43.2%	46.8%	47.6%	43.0%	42.8%	42.8%	42.0%	44.1%
Operating margin	−88.8%	−26.0%	−9.4%	−4.4%	−0.1%	2.0%	4.1%	6.0%	7.7%	7.4%	9.7%	13.8%	13.7%	6.1%	8.2%	4.1%	4.1%	12.3%
Net margin	−89.0%	−27.0%	−11.2%	−7.9%	−4.1%	−1.8%	0.5%	2.8%	45.0%	−11.1%	7.1%	10.2%	13.8%	4.2%	5.8%	2.1%	2.6%	10.9%
Free-cash-flow margin	−2.6%	−22.7%	−8.2%	3.2%	0.0%	1.8%	8.2%	7.0%	5.0%	5.2%	9.8%	11.6%	12.8%	−7.1%	1.4%	9.4%	13.9%	13.5%
Return on equity	−127.5%	−108.4%	—	—	—	—	4.2%	10.5%	87.0%	−17.0%	12.4%	15.4%	18.1%	5.3%	9.2%	3.0%	4.4%	22.6%
Return on assets	−38.6%	−18.4%	−9.6%	−7.5%	−4.6%	−2.1%	0.5%	2.6%	37.0%	−8.9%	6.6%	8.9%	11.1%	3.1%	4.8%	1.5%	2.1%	9.4%
Asset turnover	0.43	0.68	0.86	0.96	1.13	1.18	1.03	0.93	0.82	0.80	0.92	0.87	0.80	0.73	0.82	0.71	0.83	0.87
Current ratio	6.57	3.07	2.94	2.07	2.27	2.17	2.79	2.26	1.93	2.22	2.82	3.43	3.51	3.25	3.84	3.54	2.73	3.80
Debt to equity	175.1%	905.7%	>999%	—	—	—	205.2%	163.6%	43.8%	35.9%	31.6%	27.2%	22.4%	39.4%	54.6%	54.9%	56.3%	105.7%
Interest cover (operating income ÷ interest)	n/m	n/m	n/m	n/m	n/m	1.0x	2.0x	2.8x	3.8x	4.2x	9.3x	15.5x	16.1x	4.7x	4.1x	1.7x	2.2x	10.6x
Effective tax rate	—	—	—	—	—	—	50.9%	16.3%	—	—	19.1%	20.8%	−8.1%	16.2%	21.3%	29.9%	21.1%	9.8%
R&D as % of revenue	29.2%	26.5%	21.8%	19.9%	18.4%	17.5%	16.9%	17.4%	17.0%	15.9%	15.3%	15.0%	14.8%	17.2%	17.1%	19.1%	17.8%	15.4%
Capital spending as % of revenue	3.7%	4.1%	3.0%	2.6%	2.1%	2.1%	2.5%	4.1%	3.4%	2.2%	1.8%	2.3%	2.2%	2.5%	2.4%	3.4%	3.0%	4.0%
Free cash flow ÷ net income	—	—	—	—	—	—	>999%	251.2%	11.1%	—	138.3%	113.8%	92.4%	−169.1%	24.4%	450.1%	539.4%	124.4%
Dividends and buybacks ÷ free cash flow	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0.0%	0.0%	68.7%	42.8%	18.1%	19.8%	—	389.8%	67.3%	50.3%	51.9%

US$ thousands unless shown otherwise. Fiscal quarters.

Ciena: financial ratios, quarterly
Quarter	2024 Q4Nov 2024	2025 Q1Feb 2025	2025 Q2May 2025	2025 Q3Aug 2025	2025 Q4Nov 2025	2026 Q1Jan 2026	2026 Q2May 2026	2026 Q3Aug 2026
Gross margin	40.9%	44.0%	40.2%	41.3%	42.7%	43.8%	44.0%	45.4%
Operating margin	5.3%	7.5%	2.9%	6.0%	0.8%	13.3%	15.1%	18.0%
Net margin	3.3%	4.2%	0.8%	4.1%	1.4%	10.5%	13.9%	15.9%
Free-cash-flow margin	23.6%	7.2%	11.4%	11.0%	24.1%	10.8%	13.9%	7.0%
Current ratio	3.54	3.65	3.40	3.28	2.73	2.81	2.73	3.80
Debt to equity	54.9%	55.2%	55.5%	55.2%	56.3%	55.0%	52.9%	105.7%
R&D as % of revenue	17.4%	18.0%	19.1%	17.4%	16.9%	15.5%	15.1%	14.2%

Returns use average equity or assets over the year. Return on equity is left blank when equity is negative or so small that the ratio says nothing (above ±200%); interest cover is left blank above 200 times. Price-based ratios such as P/E are on the valuation page.

Financial health

4 of 7 checks passed · August 1, 2026

What it owns · $8.0bn

Short-term assets $5.3bnLonger-term assets $2.7bn

What it owes, and who funded it · $8.0bn

Short-term liabilities $1.4bnLonger-term liabilities $3.6bnShareholders' equity $3.1bn

Short-term assets cover short-term liabilities $5.3bn of assets due within a year against $1.4bn of liabilities due within a year.
Short-term assets cover long-term liabilities $5.3bn short-term assets against $3.6bn of longer-dated liabilities.
More cash than debt $2.4bn of cash against $3.2bn of debt.
Debt below 40% of shareholders' equity Debt is 106% of equity.
Debt burden no higher than five years ago Debt to equity moved from 38% to 106% over five years.
A year's operating cash flow covers at least 20% of debt $1.1bn of operating cash flow against $3.2bn of debt.
Operating profit covers interest at least five times over Operating income of $739m against $70m of interest.

From Ciena's latest balance sheet as filed. Checks are fixed, documented rules (methodology), counted only where the company reports the figures — a dot means the filing doesn't break the item out. Descriptions of reported data, not advice.

Moat

71 /100

Strong moat

How hard Ciena's competitive advantage looks for rivals to wear away, judged from 10 years of its own filings: returns on capital, pricing power, profit durability, cash conversion and discipline.

Returns on capital 20 / 20

Cash operating profit has been a median 20.2% of total assets over 10 years.
Pricing power 15 / 20

Gross margin has been a median 43.4%, moving by 1.8 percentage points (standard deviation) across 10 years.
Durability 10 / 20

Operating margin has been a median 8.0%; its worst year was 4.9%.
Cash conversion 13 / 20

Free cash flow was positive in 9 of 10 years, at a median 7.5% of revenue.
Discipline 18 / 20

The diluted share count fell 6.9% over five years; stock-based pay has been a median 2.5% of revenue.

AI disruption exposure: Medium. In this industry, AI could change how the product is made or sold, without replacing the core asset. The score above includes a 5-point deduction for that exposure (76 before it).

A rules-based reading of reported figures, not a forecast and not investment advice. How the score is built: methodology.

Compare with peers

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Figures from Ciena's SEC filings (10-K and 10-Q), retrieved October 20, 2026. How we read and check them: methodology and data sources. Not investment advice. Back to Ciena.