By Chelsey Dulaney
Telecom-equipment maker Ciena Corp. posted a wider loss and
disappointing revenue in its January quarter, weighed by foreign
exchange and the timing of orders.
Still, profit excluding special items topped Wall Street
expectations.
Higher demand in the optical-gear market has been helping the
maker of fiber-optic networking equipment improve its revenue in
recent periods. Ciena has also upgraded and diversified its
offerings while broadening its base of customers.
Recent quarters, however, have shown signs of weakness. In
December, the company posted a surprise fourth-quarter loss as
revenue growth in its biggest network segment was unable to offset
expected hits from a supplier agreement with AT&T Inc.
For the quarter ended Jan. 31, Ciena's loss widened to $18.8
million, or 17 cents a share, compared with a loss of $15.9
million, or 15 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding special
items, per-share earnings fell to 12 cents from 13 cents a year
earlier.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had called for three cents a
share in earnings.
Revenue ticked down about 1% to $529.2 million, missing the
company guidance for $540 to $570 million in revenue.
Converged packet optical revenue, Ciena's biggest top-line
contributor, improved slightly to $336.6 million from $333.4
million a year earlier. Software and services revenue grew 6.3% to
$115.3 million, while optical transport revenue fell to $22.3
million from $40.1 million a year earlier.
For the current quarter, Ciena expects revenue of $585 million
to $615 million, in-line with analysts' expectations for $597
million, according to Thomson Reuters.
Write to Chelsey Dulaney at Chelsey.Dulaney@wsj.com
Access Investor Kit for AT&T, Inc.
Visit
http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US00206R1023
Access Investor Kit for Ciena Corp.
Visit
http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US1717793095
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires