CIEN vs AAOI vs CALX Stock Comparison

Ciena, Applied Optoelectronics and Calix Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
CIEN Ciena Corp
$351.18 -1.6% 1M +92.4% 1Y
Market cap
$49.83B
P/E
76.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$6.02B
Div. yield
–
Networking Equipment Technology
4 wins
CALX Calix, Inc
$38.33 +15.6% 1M -37.2% 1Y
Market cap
$2.41B
P/E
47.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.11B
Div. yield
–
Networking Equipment Technology
4 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Ciena leads on 4 of the 12 questions below (Ciena 4, Calix 4, Applied Optoelectronics 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCIENAAOICALXLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $49.83B $6.49B $2.41B CIEN
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 76.2x -110.1x 47.6x CALX
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 46.2x 108.4x 23.7x CALX
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +32.6% +61.8% +27.8% AAOI
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 10.9% -9.6% 4.6% CIEN
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 12.4% -4.2% — CIEN
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.7x 13.8x — CIEN
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield — — — –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +92.4% +106.7% -37.2% AAOI
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +45.3%/yr +58.7%/yr -8.8%/yr AAOI
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 77.8% 138.8% 41.6% CALX
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 55/100 33/100 76/100 CALX

Percentile Scorecard

CIENAAOICALX

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisCIENAAOICALX
Valuation 22 #88 of 112 13 #98 of 112 60 #45 of 112
Growth 95 #6 of 109 56 #49 of 109 82 #20 of 109
Profitability 83 #19 of 104 17 #87 of 104 64 #38 of 104
Financial Health 43 #67 of 116 72 #33 of 116 76 #29 of 116
Shareholder Returns 35 #53 of 81 9 #74 of 81 98 #3 of 81
Overall 55 33 76
  • CIEN ranked among 122 companies in Computer Hardware
  • AAOI ranked among 122 companies in Computer Hardware
  • CALX ranked among 122 companies in Computer Hardware

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodCIENAAOICALXSPY
1 month -1.6%-24.1%+15.6% -0.2%
3 months +0.2%-12.7%+3.3% +3.9%
6 months -25.9%-43.9%-8.8% +8.2%
Year to date +50.2%+120.7%-27.6% +12.9%
1 year +92.4%+106.7%-37.2% +12.3%
3 years +756.1%+993.0%+17.2% +87.4%
3 years, per year +104.7%+122.0%+5.4% +23.3%
5 years +546.3%+904.6%-36.9% +67.9%
5 years, per year +45.3%+58.7%-8.8% +10.9%
10 years +1,696.3%+284.9%+508.4% +261.1%
10 years, per year +33.5%+14.4%+19.8% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureCIENAAOICALXSPY
Volatility, 1Y 77.8%138.8%41.6% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 82.8%126.6%44.0% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 2.794.310.88 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.190.77-0.89 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -49.7%-82.6%-65.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -44.0%-65.5%-44.0% -1.2%
52-week high $627.00$223.10$68.42 $779.14
52-week low $176.45$19.49$33.15 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleCIENAAOICALX
P/E now vs peer median 76.2xmedian 33.2x -110.1xmedian 33.2x 47.6xmedian 33.2x
P/S now vs peer median 8.3xmedian 2.8x 10.9xmedian 2.8x 2.2xmedian 2.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 56.2xmedian 20.0x -188.5xmedian 20.0x 28.0xmedian 20.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 61.2xmedian 29.8x -10.8xmedian 29.8x 28.3xmedian 29.8x
P/B now vs peer median 16.3xmedian 3.0x 3.9xmedian 3.0x 3.4xmedian 3.0x
PEG now vs peer median 1.70median 1.17 -3.32median 1.17 6.72median 1.17

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsCIENAAOICALX
Revenue $6.02B $595.97M $1.11B
Gross profit $2.65B $172.33M $628.73M
Operating income $738.95M -$67.41M $61.25M
Net income $654.41M -$57.02M $51.19M
Free cash flow $814.36M -$600.81M $85.42M
R&D $924.94M $107.61M $207.99M
EPS (diluted) $4.48 $-0.70 $0.78
Cash & equivalents $2.45B $499.74M $68.91M
Total debt $3.23B $57.26M –
Shares (diluted) 145.97M 81.57M 65.51M
Enterprise value $43.39B $5.21B $1.25B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricCIENAAOICALX
P/E 76.2x -110.1x 47.6x
P/FCF 61.2x -10.8x 28.3x
P/Operating cash flow 47.2x -49.3x 22.0x
P/S 8.3x 10.9x 2.2x
P/B 16.3x 3.9x 3.4x
P/Tangible book 17.4x 3.9x 3.4x
EV/EBITDA 56.2x -188.5x 28.0x
EV/EBIT 68.2x -89.8x 36.2x
EV/Revenue 8.4x 10.2x 2.0x
EV/FCF 61.9x -10.1x 26.0x
EV/Operating cash flow 47.8x -45.9x 20.3x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.70 -3.32 6.72

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCIENAAOICALX
Revenue growth (1Y) 32.6% 61.8% 27.8%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 12.5% 40.9% 3.9%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 40.6% 62.0% 30.3%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 13.3% 73.3% 7.4%
Operating income growth (1Y) 200.1% -40.6% 273.3%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 29.1% -2.8% 3.8%
Net income growth (1Y) 364.5% 63.4% 290.5%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 43.5% 6.2% 4.9%
EPS growth (1Y) 359.9% 74.5% 287.6%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 44.8% 33.2% 7.1%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 34.5% 15.2% 24.5%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 201.2% -168.6% 41.8%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 34.5% -146.3% 19.4%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 95.4% -294.2% 62.0%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCIENAAOICALX
Gross margin 44.1% 28.9% 56.6%
EBITDA margin 14.9% -5.4% 7.1%
Operating margin 12.3% -11.3% 5.5%
Pretax margin 12.1% -10.6% 6.5%
Net margin 10.9% -9.6% 4.6%
FCF margin 13.5% -100.8% 7.7%
Operating cash flow margin 17.5% -22.1% 9.9%
Return on equity 22.0% -4.1% 7.1%
Return on assets 9.3% -2.9% 5.4%
Return on invested capital 12.4% -4.2% –
Return on capital employed 13.1% -4.5% 8.2%
Asset turnover 0.9x 0.3x 1.2x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.6x 2.3x 2.1x
Stock comp / revenue 3.5% 2.6% 7.2%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCIENAAOICALX
Debt / assets 40.4% 2.5% –
Debt / equity 1.1x 0.0x –
Net debt / EBITDA 0.7x 13.8x –
Debt / FCF 4.0x -0.1x –
Liabilities / assets 61.8% 27.5% 25.6%
Equity / assets 38.2% 72.5% 74.4%
Interest coverage 10.6x -19.1x –
Current ratio 3.8x 2.8x 2.8x
Quick ratio 2.8x 1.9x 1.6x
Cash ratio 1.9x 1.2x 0.9x
Altman Z-score 7.25 6.39 7.28

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCIENAAOICALX
Dividend yield – – –
Net buyback yield -1.0% -20.8% 7.9%
Shareholder yield -1.0% -20.8% 7.9%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusCIENAAOICALX
Forward P/E 46.2xFY2026 108.4xFY2026 23.7xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $7.60FY2026 $0.71FY2026 $1.62FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +187.9%FY2026 – +20.9%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +64.7% +646.5% +48.1%
Revenue, next fiscal year $6.86BFY2026 $994.70MFY2026 $1.11BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +43.8%FY2026 +118.3%FY2026 +11.0%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +18.0% +185.6% +18.8%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCIENAAOICALX
Held by institutions 92.9% 60.5% 94.5%
Institutions holding 1,220 481 288
Change in shares held, QoQ -1.7% -3.5% +0.5%
Institutions buying 729 313 148
Institutions selling 379 143 111
Buyers to sellers 1.92 2.19 1.33

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

CIENAAOICALX
CIEN 1.00 0.59 0.23
AAOI 0.59 1.00 0.24
CALX 0.23 0.24 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CIEN, AAOI and CALX?

Ciena (CIEN) is the largest by market capitalisation: Ciena (CIEN) $49.83B, Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) $6.49B, Calix (CALX) $2.41B.

Which stock is cheaper, CIEN, AAOI and CALX?

Calix (CALX) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Ciena (CIEN) 76.2x, Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) -110.1x, Calix (CALX) 47.6x). On next year's consensus earnings, Calix (CALX) is cheapest (Ciena (CIEN) 46.2x, Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) 108.4x, Calix (CALX) 23.7x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Ciena (CIEN) +32.6%, Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) +61.8%, Calix (CALX) +27.8%.

Which company is more profitable?

Ciena (CIEN) has the highest net margin (Ciena (CIEN) 10.9%, Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) -9.6%, Calix (CALX) 4.6%). On return on invested capital, Ciena (CIEN) leads (Ciena (CIEN) 12.4%, Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) -4.2%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) returned the most: Ciena (CIEN) +92.4%, Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) +106.7%, Calix (CALX) -37.2%. Over five years, Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) compounded fastest (Ciena (CIEN) +45.3%/yr, Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) +58.7%/yr, Calix (CALX) -8.8%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Calix (CALX) has been the steadiest (Ciena (CIEN) 77.8%, Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) 138.8%, Calix (CALX) 41.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, CIEN, AAOI and CALX?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Ciena (CIEN) leads on 4. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.