Ekinops’ Q4 cloud gains offset by year-over-year access, optical declines
Key Highlights
- Ekinops' revenue decreased 14% year-over-year but increased 15% sequentially, meeting early targets for Q4 2025.
- Software and Services grew 27%, now accounting for 25% of total revenue, with an ARR of $18.4 million as of 2025.
- Access and optical segments faced declines due to customer-specific issues and regional market slowdowns, though some regions showed signs of recovery.
- North American optical transport sales declined but are expected to rebound with upcoming federal broadband programs like BEAD.
- The company is launching new products and strategic initiatives aligned with its Bridge plan to target high-growth markets from 2026 onward.
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Here are other stories on Ekinops:
· Ekinops taps former TrustBuilder, Corero exec Lionel Chmilewsky as its new CEO
· Ekinops’ CEO departs amidst Q3 revenue decline and challenging outlook
· Ekinops says its European manufacturing focus helps it mitigate tariff effects
· Ekinops’ Q4 gains in access, software offset by optical networking declines
Ekinops has established a growth path under new CEO Lionel Chmilewsky, but its fourth-quarter earnings showed the effects of ongoing challenges in its access and optical segments.
The company reported consolidated revenue of $30 million, down 14% year over year. However, revenue rose 15% sequentially, meeting the target it set in early October.
Olfeo, the French provider of SSE (Secure Service Edge) cybersecurity software, contributed $1.9 million to its fourth-quarter revenue and $4.3 million to its 2025 annual revenue.
Ekinops said that “2025 consolidated revenue amounted to 105.0 m€, down -11% compared to the previous year.”
Software and Services dominate
As seen in previous quarters, Ekinops’ Software and Services segment saw positive results, growing 27%. The growth of this segment was driven by Ekinops' expanded service offerings and Olfeo's contributions.
Software and Services now account for 25% of Ekinops' total revenue, up from 18% a year earlier, and had an ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue) of $18.4 million as of the end of the year 2025.
Ekinops said that Software & Services now accounts for 25% of its total revenue, up from 18% a year earlier.
“A significant portion of the Software & Services revenue is recurring, which leads the Group to start reporting its ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue) from 2026,” Ekinops said in its earnings release. “This metric reflects the annualized value of subscriptions and support contracts, excluding non-recurring components (professional services, hardware sales, perpetual software licenses, or any other non-recurring revenue). ARR will monitor the ramp-up of the Group's recurring revenue, in line with the ambitions of the Bridge strategic plan.”
Access, optical challenges
Ekinops’ biggest revenue challenges were seen in the access and optical transport segments.
Due to lower sales of its largest customer in France, which declined 30% in 2025 following 21% growth in 2024, Access equipment sales decreased by 15%. Taking out the impact of this one customer, Ekinops' Access revenue would have remained stable year-over-year.
However, Access did see a bright spot. Ekinops said that it “saw more dynamic activity in the Access segment, with sequential growth of +10% in Q4 2025 compared to the third quarter” at the end of the year.
Alternatively, Optical Transport activity declined 12% year over year.
The company said optical transport sales were impacted by “reduced activity in North America, as two major customers reduced their investments following post-consolidation reorganizations.”
However, Ekinops recorded strong growth in France, partly offsetting the slowdown observed in Europe. Ekinops also saw positive sequential Optical Transport results at the end of 2025, with sales up 26% from the third quarter.
“As the situation with the two North American customers improved at year-end, Ekinops anticipates a return to normalized activity levels in the coming months,” Ekinops said.
Regional ups and downs
From a regional perspective, Ekinops’ results were impacted by declines in its home market of France, as well as in Europe, North America, and other regions.
In France, Ekinops' annual sales dipped 8%, following a substantial 18% growth in 2024. Likewise, the company’s international sales fell by 13%.
The company saw its most significant decline in North America. In North America, where sales are mainly driven by Optical Transport, revenue was $23 million, down 14% year over year.
However, Ekinops sees potential to accelerate growth in the North American market, particularly as service providers and states move forward with their Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) programs.
“The gradual restart of the BEAD federal program, aimed at deploying fiber networks in rural and remote areas of the United States, is expected to unlock investments for several Ekinops customers,” Ekinops said.
While European sales declined 10% year-over-year, Ekinops said it “gradually returned to growth in the region at year-end, with sequential growth of 21% in Q4 compared to Q3.”
In the Rest of the World, Ekinops’ sales declined by 20% over the year.
New leadership, growth targets
As Ekinops transitions into 2026 with a new CEO at the helm, the company has forecast a “gradual market recovery” over the next few quarters, driven by the development of new AI and Cloud-related applications.
To address these new opportunities, Ekinops developed new products in 2025 while enhancing existing product lines in both Optical Transport (the new C700HC chassis, addressing both operators and DCI, and 800G transponders) and Access (a new 5G indoor/outdoor product, advanced SD-WAN features).
The launch of these new solutions is part of its broader Bridge strategic plan, aimed at positioning Ekinops in what it sees as high-growth market segments from 2026 onward: cybersecurity (SASE – Secure Access Service Edge) for Access and datacenter interconnect (DCI) for Optical Transport.
The launch of these new solutions is part of the Bridge strategic plan, aimed at positioning Ekinops in high-growth market segments from 2026 onward: cybersecurity (SASE – Secure Access Service Edge) for Access and datacenter interconnect (DCI) for Optical Transport.
Also, the development of what the company calls a fully sovereign SSE and SASE offering, adapted to European market requirements, reflects Ekinops' ambition to compete with non-European vendors on features and cost more effectively.
“The end of FY 2025 marked a major transition phase for Ekinops, during which the interim management team developed a detailed plan for 2026, confirming the year as one of ambitious investments to support the deployment of the Bridge plan,” the company said. “At the same time, the Group launched an initiative to optimize and structure its Go-to-Market approach, for both direct and indirect sales, particularly in the new target markets (SASE and DCI).”
Ekinops added that naming Chmilewsky as CEO in early January “fully aligns with this strategy, aimed at introducing new drivers for sustainable growth and value creation.”
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About the Author
Sean Buckley
Sean is responsible for establishing and executing the editorial strategy of Lightwave across its website, email newsletters, events, and other information products.