Ciena Corporation · NYSE:CIEN
Ciena — Q1 2026 Earnings Presentation
30 slides from Ciena's earnings presentation, Mar 5, 2026
Slide 1: Fiscal Q1 2026 Earnings Presentation
Ciena Corporation Fiscal Q1 2026 Earnings Presentation Period ended January 31, 2026 March 5, 2026 © Ciena Corporation 2026. All rights reserved. Proprietary Information.
Slide 2: Forward-looking statements and non-GAAP measures
Forward-looking statements and non-GAAP measures You are encouraged to review the Investors section of our website, where we routinely post press releases, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings, recent news, financial results, supplemental financial information, and other announcements. F
Slide 3: Table of Contents
Table of Contents 1. Overview and Ciena's portfolio 2. Industry context 3. Ciena is positioned for accelerated growth 4. Fiscal Q1 2026 financial performance 5. Fiscal year 2026 and Q2 outlook 6. Appendix 3 © Ciena Corporation 2026. All rights reserved. Proprietary Information.
Slide 4: Overview and Ciena's portfolio
Overview and Ciena's portfolio © Ciena Corporation 2026. All rights reserved. Proprietary Information.
Slide 5: Ciena is the global leader in high-speed connectivity
Ciena is the global leader in high-speed connectivity We build advanced networks to support exponential growth in bandwidth demand ~2,400 4,500+ 9,000+ R&D – empowering our customers, partners, patents* specialists* employees* and communities to thrive in the AI era. With unparalleled expertise and
Slide 6: Market dynamics are informing our strategic portfolio investments
Market dynamics are informing our strategic portfolio investments 6 © Ciena Corporation 2026. All rights reserved. Proprietary Information.
Slide 7: Industry context
Industry context © Ciena Corporation 2026. All rights reserved. Proprietary Information.
Slide 8: Increasing bandwidth consumption is driving network expansion
Increasing bandwidth consumption is driving network expansion AI generation 2024-2030 8 © Ciena Corporation 2026. All rights reserved. Proprietary Information.
Slide 9: An evolving industry is reshaping networks
An evolving industry is reshaping networks 9 © Ciena Corporation 2026. All rights reserved. Proprietary Information.
Slide 10: Ciena's industry leadership is well-proven
Ciena's industry leadership is well-proven #1 Globally #1 Globally #1 Globally Market leadership • Purpose-built/compact modular DCI • Purpose-built/compact modular DCI • Data center interconnect • SLTE WDM • Optical for cloud and colo • Optical for cloud providers • SLTE WDM • Purpose-built/compact
Slide 11: Ciena is positioned for accelerated growth
Ciena is positioned for accelerated growth © Ciena Corporation 2026. All rights reserved. Proprietary Information.
Slide 12: Our future growth opportunities
Our future growth opportunities In & Around the Data Center Use Cases • 400G ZR, 800G ZR (WL6 Nano) and 1.6T ZR • Scale Across DC Clusters for AI Infrastructure Connectivity • Data Center Out-of-band Management (DCOM) • Coherent Lite (1.6T LR) • Components / High-speed Interconnects Inside DC ◦ Vest
Slide 13: Data center interconnect applications are expanding
Data center interconnect applications are expanding 13 © Ciena Corporation 2026. All rights reserved. Proprietary Information.
Slide 14: Q1 FY 2026 results
Q1 FY 2026 results © Ciena Corporation 2026. All rights reserved. Proprietary Information.
Slide 15: Q1 FY 2026 key highlights
Q1 FY 2026 key highlights Achieving Prioritizing long-term Driving the pace of innovation broad-based growth shareholder value ▪ Non-telco represented 53% of total • Continued strong uptake of WaveLogic • Total shareholder return five-year revenue 6 Extreme, the industry’s only 1.6 Tb/s CAGR of 44%1
Slide 16: Q1 FY 2026 comparative financial highlights
Q1 FY 2026 comparative financial highlights Q1 FY 2026 Q1 FY 2025 YoY Change** Revenue $1.43B $1.07B 33.1% Adjusted Gross Margin* 44.7% 44.7% — Adjusted Operating Expense* $383M $347M 10.3% Adjusted Operating Margin* 17.9% 12.3% 5.6% Adjusted EBITDA* $287M $156M 83.6% Adjusted EPS* $1.35 $0.64 110.9
Slide 17: Q1 FY 2026 comparative operating metrics
Q1 FY 2026 comparative operating metrics Q1 FY 2026 Q1 FY 2025 YoY Change* Cash and investments $1.4B $1.3B 4.0% Cash provided by operations $228M $104M 119.5% Free cash flow $154M $77M 100.1% DSO 72 90 (18) Inventory turns 3.2x 2.3x 0.9x Net debt $174M $283M (38.5)% Gross leverage 2.0x 3.4x (1.4)x
Slide 18: Revenue by segment
Revenue by segment (Amounts in millions) Q1 FY 2026 Q1 FY 2025 Revenue %** Revenue %** Networking Platforms Optical Networking $1,023.2 71.7 $728.0 67.9 Routing and Switching 126.0 8.8 93.2 8.7 Total Networking Platforms 1,149.2 80.5 821.2 76.6 Platform Software and Services 93.3 6.5 95.1 8.9 Blue P
Slide 19: Revenue by customer type
Revenue by customer type 19 © Ciena Corporation 2026. All rights reserved. Proprietary Information.
Slide 20: Revenue by geographic region
Revenue by geographic region 8% 8% 9% 14% 14% 9% 11% 15% 17% 15% 74% 74% 76% 78% 78% 20 © Ciena Corporation 2026. All rights reserved. Proprietary Information.
Slide 21: Business outlook
Business outlook © Ciena Corporation 2026. All rights reserved. Proprietary Information.
Slide 22: Economic considerations and assumptions in our 2026 outlook
Economic considerations and assumptions in our 2026 outlook Business assumptions Revenue assumptions Profitability assumptions • Macro environment, including geopolitical • We do not experience significant deferrals • Operating expense remains relatively flat tensions or events and acts of war or of
Slide 23: Business outlook for fiscal year 2026
Business outlook for fiscal year 20261 Fiscal Year 2026 Revenue $5.9B to $6.3B Adjusted Gross Margin 43.5% to 44.5% Adjusted Operating Expense Approximately $1.52B to $1.53B Adjusted Operating Margin 17.5% to 19.5% 1 Projections or outlook with respect to future operating results are only as of Marc
Slide 24: Business outlook for fiscal second quarter 2026
Business outlook for fiscal second quarter 20261 Q2 FY 2026 Revenue $1.5B plus or minus $50M Adjusted Gross Margin 43.5% to 44.5% Adjusted Operating Expense Approximately $375M to $390M Adjusted Operating Margin 17.5% to 18.5% 1 Projections or outlook with respect to future operating results are onl
Slide 25: Q1 FY 2026 appendix
Q1 FY 2026 appendix © Ciena Corporation 2026. All rights reserved. Proprietary Information.
Slide 26: Gross Profit Reconciliation
Gross Profit Reconciliation (Amounts in thousands) Q1 FY 2026 Q4 FY 2025 Q3 FY 2025 Q2 FY 2025 Q1 FY 2025 GAAP gross profit $625,520 $577,179 $503,079 $452,838 $471,821 Share-based compensation-products 1,822 1,964 2,027 2,033 1,750 Share-based compensation-services 4,025 3,857 3,942 3,980 3,405 Amo
Slide 27: Operating Expense Reconciliation
Operating Expense Reconciliation (Amounts in thousands) Q1 FY 2026 Q4 FY 2025 Q3 FY 2025 Q2 FY 2025 Q1 FY 2025 GAAP operating expense $436,108 $566,688 $429,544 $419,996 $391,158 Share-based compensation-research and development 16,594 16,274 16,749 17,021 14,237 Share-based compensation-sales and m
Slide 28: Net Income Reconciliation
Net Income Reconciliation (Amounts in thousands) Q1 FY 2026 Q4 FY 2025 Q3 FY 2025 Q2 FY 2025 Q1 FY 2025 GAAP net income $150,283 $19,489 $50,308 $8,969 $44,572 Exclude GAAP provision (benefit) for income taxes 30,832 (16,631) 15,511 10,047 24,022 Income before income taxes 181,115 2,858 65,819 19,01
Slide 29: Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA)
Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA) (Amounts in thousands) Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortization Q1 FY 2026 Q4 FY 2025 Q3 FY 2025 Q2 FY 2025 Q1 FY 2025 (EBITDA) Net income (GAAP) $150,283 $19,489 $50,308 $8,969 $44,572 Add: Interest expense 21
Slide 30: Thank You
Thank You © Ciena Corporation 2026. All rights reserved. Proprietary Information.