Ciena fiscal second quarter 2013 keeps momentum going

Ciena Corp. (NASDAQ: CIEN) exceeded analyst revenue expectations for the second consecutive quarter. The optical transport equipment specialist reported $507.7 million in revenues for its fiscal second quarter, which ended April 30, 2013.

The figure, a quarterly revenue record, represented a jump of 12.1% from the previous quarter and 6.3% from the second quarter of fiscal 2012. It also exceeded consensus estimates by $24.36 million, as well as Ciena’s own forecast of between $465 million and $495 million (see “Ciena first quarter 2013 revenue, EPS beat Street”).

That says, on a GAAP basis, the company still lost money. The GAAP net loss for the quarter was $27.1 million, or $0.27 per common share, a penny better than the year-ago quarter. On a non-GAAP basis, the company earned $2.2 million, or $0.02 per common share -- $0.02 worse than the same quarter of 2012. Nevertheless, this also exceeded Wall Street expectations by $0.03.

The company’s Converged Packet Optical business led the way, with revenues of $291.4, up 53% from the previous quarter and 55.4% from 2Q12.

“We have designed Ciena to take advantage of the fundamental shift in network architecture driven by changing end-user demands, and our strong quarterly and first half of 2013 performance are a direct result of that strategy. Our unique ability to provide customers convergence, automation, openness and software intelligence positions us to lead the industry in this shift,” said Gary B. Smith, president and CEO of Ciena, via a company press release. “These dynamics are creating new opportunities that we believe will enable us to continue making progress toward our long-term financial goals.”

Ciena expects the good times to continue in its fiscal third quarter. It forecasted revenues in the range of $515 million to $545 million, non-GAAP gross margin in the low 40s percent range. Non-GAAP gross margin in 2Q13 was 42.5%.

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