CIEN vs DGII vs AAOI Stock Comparison

Ciena, Digi International and Applied Optoelectronics Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
CIEN Ciena Corp
$349.15 -1.6% 1M +84.5% 1Y
Market cap
$45.23B
P/E
69.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$6.02B
Div. yield
–
Networking Equipment Technology
4 wins
DGII Digi International Inc
$77.63 +1.5% 1M +103.5% 1Y
Market cap
$2.75B
P/E
56.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$506.21M
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, Digi International 4, Applied Optoelectronics 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCIENDGIIAAOILeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $45.23B $2.75B $5.59B CIEN
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 69.1x 56.5x -98.1x DGII
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 45.9x 27.9x 111.5x DGII
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +32.6% +20.3% +61.8% AAOI
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 10.9% 9.6% -9.6% CIEN
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 12.4% 6.9% -4.2% CIEN
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.7x 0.7x 13.8x CIEN
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +84.5% +103.5% +123.2% AAOI
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +45.1%/yr +29.2%/yr +59.6%/yr AAOI
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 77.9% 40.8% 139.0% DGII
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 55/100 59/100 32/100 DGII

Percentile Scorecard

CIENDGIIAAOI

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

AxisCIENDGIIAAOI
Valuation 21 #89 of 112 42 #65 of 112 12 #99 of 112
Growth 94 #7 of 108 70 #33 of 108 54 #50 of 108
Profitability 84 #18 of 104 82 #20 of 104 16 #88 of 104
Financial Health 41 #69 of 116 48 #61 of 116 71 #34 of 116
Shareholder Returns 36 #50 of 78 53 #37 of 78 9 #71 of 78
Overall 55 59 32
  • CIEN ranked among 121 companies in Computer Hardware
  • DGII ranked among 121 companies in Computer Hardware
  • AAOI ranked among 121 companies in Computer Hardware

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodCIENDGIIAAOISPY
1 month -1.6%+1.5%-21.3% +0.7%
3 months -6.1%+13.8%-12.1% +3.7%
6 months -33.8%+38.5%-51.8% +7.1%
Year to date +49.3%+79.3%+127.2% +12.8%
1 year +84.5%+103.5%+123.2% +11.9%
3 years +750.3%+206.2%+1,018.5% +85.2%
3 years, per year +104.2%+45.3%+123.8% +22.8%
5 years +543.1%+260.2%+935.2% +67.6%
5 years, per year +45.1%+29.2%+59.6% +10.9%
10 years +1,689.6%+700.3%+302.2% +262.0%
10 years, per year +33.4%+23.1%+14.9% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureCIENDGIIAAOISPY
Volatility, 1Y 77.9%40.8%139.0% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 82.7%38.6%127.1% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 2.801.434.32 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.082.540.89 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -49.7%-48.6%-82.6% -25.4%
From 52-week high -44.3%-8.9%-64.5% -1.2%
52-week high $627.00$85.24$223.10 $779.14
52-week low $176.45$35.40$19.49 $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.

MultipleCIENDGIIAAOI
P/E now vs peer median 75.8xmedian 32.9x 60.2xmedian 32.9x -113.3xmedian 32.9x
P/S now vs peer median 8.2xmedian 2.9x 5.8xmedian 2.9x 11.2xmedian 2.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 55.9xmedian 20.0x 26.8xmedian 20.0x -194.4xmedian 20.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 60.8xmedian 30.2x 21.7xmedian 30.2x -11.1xmedian 30.2x
P/B now vs peer median 16.2xmedian 2.9x 4.3xmedian 2.9x 4.0xmedian 2.9x
PEG now vs peer median 1.69median 1.08 3.79median 1.08 -3.41median 1.08

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 monthsCIENDGIIAAOI
Revenue $6.02B $506.21M $595.97M
Gross profit $2.65B $323.07M $172.33M
Operating income $738.95M $70.58M -$67.41M
Net income $654.41M $48.74M -$57.02M
Free cash flow $814.36M $135.98M -$600.81M
R&D $924.94M $73.84M $107.61M
EPS (diluted) $4.48 $1.25 $-0.70
Cash & equivalents $2.45B $27.97M $499.74M
Total debt $3.23B $108.13M $57.26M
Shares (diluted) 145.97M 38.92M 81.57M
Enterprise value $38.79B $2.64B $4.31B

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
MetricCIENDGIIAAOI
P/E 75.8x 60.2x -113.3x
P/FCF 60.8x 21.7x -11.1x
P/Operating cash flow 47.0x 21.3x -50.7x
P/S 8.2x 5.8x 11.2x
P/B 16.2x 4.3x 4.0x
P/Tangible book 17.3x 9.2x 4.0x
EV/EBITDA 55.9x 26.8x -194.4x
EV/EBIT 67.9x 42.9x -92.6x
EV/Revenue 8.3x 6.0x 10.5x
EV/FCF 61.6x 22.3x -10.4x
EV/Operating cash flow 47.5x 21.9x -47.3x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.69 3.79 -3.41

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCIENDGIIAAOI
Revenue growth (1Y) 32.6% 20.3% 61.8%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 12.5% 4.9% 40.9%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 40.6% 23.4% 62.0%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 13.3% 9.3% 73.3%
Operating income growth (1Y) 200.1% 24.0% -40.6%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 29.1% 9.7% -2.8%
Net income growth (1Y) 364.5% 14.2% 63.4%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 43.5% 18.0% 6.2%
EPS growth (1Y) 359.9% 10.5% 74.5%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 44.8% 15.9% 33.2%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 34.5% 30.1% 15.2%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 201.2% 59.2% -168.6%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 34.5% 31.6% -146.3%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 95.4% 60.8% -294.2%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCIENDGIIAAOI
Gross margin 44.1% 63.8% 28.9%
EBITDA margin 14.9% 22.3% -5.4%
Operating margin 12.3% 13.9% -11.3%
Pretax margin 12.1% 12.4% -10.6%
Net margin 10.9% 9.6% -9.6%
FCF margin 13.5% 26.9% -100.8%
Operating cash flow margin 17.5% 27.3% -22.1%
Return on equity 22.0% 7.2% -4.1%
Return on assets 9.3% 5.0% -2.9%
Return on invested capital 12.4% 6.9% -4.2%
Return on capital employed 13.1% 8.4% -4.5%
Asset turnover 0.9x 0.5x 0.3x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.6x 2.8x 2.3x
Stock comp / revenue 3.5% 3.4% 2.6%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCIENDGIIAAOI
Debt / assets 40.4% 11.2% 2.5%
Debt / equity 1.1x 0.2x 0.0x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.7x 0.7x 13.8x
Debt / FCF 4.0x 0.8x -0.1x
Liabilities / assets 61.8% 29.0% 27.5%
Equity / assets 38.2% 71.0% 72.5%
Interest coverage 10.6x 8.9x -19.1x
Current ratio 3.8x 1.1x 2.8x
Quick ratio 2.8x 0.7x 1.9x
Cash ratio 1.9x 0.2x 1.2x
Altman Z-score 7.21 7.59 6.57

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCIENDGIIAAOI
Dividend yield – – –
Net buyback yield -1.0% 0.0% -20.2%
Shareholder yield -1.0% 0.0% -20.2%
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.

ConsensusCIENDGIIAAOI
Forward P/E 45.9xFY2026 27.9xFY2026 111.5xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $7.60FY2026 $2.78FY2026 $0.71FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +187.9%FY2026 +32.4%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after +64.7% +9.4% +646.5%
Revenue, next fiscal year $6.86BFY2026 $519.66MFY2026 $994.70MFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +43.8%FY2026 +20.8%FY2026 +118.3%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +18.0% +3.8% +185.6%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCIENDGIIAAOI
Held by institutions 92.9% 100.0% 60.5%
Institutions holding 1,221 284 481
Change in shares held, QoQ -1.7% +1.6% -3.5%
Institutions buying 730 143 313
Institutions selling 379 105 143
Buyers to sellers 1.93 1.36 2.19

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.

CIENDGIIAAOI
CIEN 1.00 0.32 0.59
DGII 0.32 1.00 0.25
AAOI 0.59 0.25 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CIEN, DGII and AAOI?

Ciena (CIEN) is the largest by market capitalisation: Ciena (CIEN) $45.23B, Digi International (DGII) $2.75B, Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) $5.59B.

Which stock is cheaper, CIEN, DGII and AAOI?

Digi International (DGII) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Ciena (CIEN) 69.1x, Digi International (DGII) 56.5x, Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) -98.1x). On next year's consensus earnings, Digi International (DGII) is cheapest (Ciena (CIEN) 45.9x, Digi International (DGII) 27.9x, Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) 111.5x). 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%, Digi International (DGII) +20.3%, Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) +61.8%.

Which company is more profitable?

Ciena (CIEN) has the highest net margin (Ciena (CIEN) 10.9%, Digi International (DGII) 9.6%, Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) -9.6%). On return on invested capital, Ciena (CIEN) leads (Ciena (CIEN) 12.4%, Digi International (DGII) 6.9%, Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) -4.2%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) returned the most: Ciena (CIEN) +84.5%, Digi International (DGII) +103.5%, Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) +123.2%. Over five years, Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) compounded fastest (Ciena (CIEN) +45.1%/yr, Digi International (DGII) +29.2%/yr, Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) +59.6%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Digi International (DGII) has been the steadiest (Ciena (CIEN) 77.9%, Digi International (DGII) 40.8%, Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) 139.0%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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.