CIEN vs DGII vs NN Stock Comparison

Ciena, Digi International and Nextnav Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
1 more company in this comparison (ERIC) Create a free account to keep reading and compare up to 10 companies.
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
6 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
5 wins
NN Nextnav Inc.
$12.08 -13.0% 1M -9.9% 1Y
Market cap
$1.62B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$4.18M
Div. yield
–
Networking Equipment Technology

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Ciena leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Ciena 6, Digi International 5). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCIENDGIINNLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $45.23B $2.75B $1.62B CIEN
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 69.1x 56.5x -9.8x DGII
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 45.9x 27.9x — DGII
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +32.6% +20.3% -33.2% CIEN
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 10.9% 9.6% -3,930.9% CIEN
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 12.4% 6.9% — CIEN
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.7x 0.7x — CIEN
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +84.5% +103.5% -9.9% DGII
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +45.1%/yr +29.2%/yr +2.0%/yr CIEN
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 77.9% 40.8% 80.7% DGII
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 55/100 59/100 29/100 DGII

Percentile Scorecard

CIENDGIINN

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

AxisCIENDGIINN
Valuation 21 #89 of 112 42 #65 of 112 6 #105 of 112
Growth 94 #7 of 108 70 #33 of 108 13 #94 of 108
Profitability 84 #18 of 104 82 #20 of 104 2 #102 of 104
Financial Health 41 #69 of 116 48 #61 of 116 94 #8 of 116
Shareholder Returns 36 #50 of 78 53 #37 of 78 –
Overall 55 59 29
  • CIEN ranked among 121 companies in Computer Hardware
  • DGII ranked among 121 companies in Computer Hardware
  • NN ranked among 121 companies in Computer Hardware

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodCIENDGIINNSPY
1 month -1.6%+1.5%-13.0% +0.7%
3 months -6.1%+13.8%-10.0% +3.7%
6 months -33.8%+38.5%-34.8% +7.1%
Year to date +49.3%+79.3%-27.4% +12.8%
1 year +84.5%+103.5%-9.9% +11.9%
3 years +750.3%+206.2%+170.2% +85.2%
3 years, per year +104.2%+45.3%+39.3% +22.8%
5 years +543.1%+260.2%+10.3% +67.6%
5 years, per year +45.1%+29.2%+2.0% +10.9%
10 years +1,689.6%+700.3%— +262.0%
10 years, per year +33.4%+23.1%— +13.7%

Risk

MeasureCIENDGIINNSPY
Volatility, 1Y 77.9%40.8%80.7% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 82.7%38.6%83.6% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 2.801.431.82 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.082.54-0.12 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -49.7%-48.6%-86.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -44.3%-8.9%-48.8% -1.2%
52-week high $627.00$85.24$23.59 $779.14
52-week low $176.45$35.40$9.21 $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.

MultipleCIENDGIINN
P/E now vs peer median 75.8xmedian 32.9x 60.2xmedian 32.9x -10.4xmedian 32.9x
P/S now vs peer median 8.2xmedian 2.9x 5.8xmedian 2.9x 482.2xmedian 2.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 55.9xmedian 20.0x 26.8xmedian 20.0x -30.8xmedian 20.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 60.8xmedian 30.2x 21.7xmedian 30.2x —median 30.2x
P/B now vs peer median 16.2xmedian 2.9x 4.3xmedian 2.9x 6.0xmedian 2.9x
PEG now vs peer median 1.69median 1.08 3.79median 1.08 0.41median 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 monthsCIENDGIINN
Revenue $6.02B $506.21M $4.18M
Gross profit $2.65B $323.07M -$3.88M
Operating income $738.95M $70.58M -$73.48M
Net income $654.41M $48.74M -$164.47M
Free cash flow $814.36M $135.98M –
R&D $924.94M $73.84M $20.38M
EPS (diluted) $4.48 $1.25 $-1.16
Cash & equivalents $2.45B $27.97M $77.72M
Total debt $3.23B $108.13M –
Shares (diluted) 145.97M 38.92M 141.63M
Enterprise value $38.79B $2.64B $1.39B

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
MetricCIENDGIINN
P/E 75.8x 60.2x -10.4x
P/FCF 60.8x 21.7x –
P/Operating cash flow 47.0x 21.3x –
P/S 8.2x 5.8x 482.2x
P/B 16.2x 4.3x 6.0x
P/Tangible book 17.3x 9.2x 6.9x
EV/EBITDA 55.9x 26.8x -30.8x
EV/EBIT 67.9x 42.9x -24.3x
EV/Revenue 8.3x 6.0x 427.5x
EV/FCF 61.6x 22.3x –
EV/Operating cash flow 47.5x 21.9x –
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.69 3.79 0.41

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCIENDGIINN
Revenue growth (1Y) 32.6% 20.3% -33.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 12.5% 4.9% 12.5%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 40.6% 23.4% -14.0%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 13.3% 9.3% 34.1%
Operating income growth (1Y) 200.1% 24.0% -16.9%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 29.1% 9.7% -6.1%
Net income growth (1Y) 364.5% 14.2% 1.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 43.5% 18.0% -37.4%
EPS growth (1Y) 359.9% 10.5% 8.3%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 44.8% 15.9% -25.1%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 34.5% 30.1% –
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 201.2% 59.2% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 34.5% 31.6% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 95.4% 60.8% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCIENDGIINN
Gross margin 44.1% 63.8% -92.7%
EBITDA margin 14.9% 22.3% -1,387%
Operating margin 12.3% 13.9% -1,756%
Pretax margin 12.1% 12.4% -3,926%
Net margin 10.9% 9.6% -3,931%
FCF margin 13.5% 26.9% –
Operating cash flow margin 17.5% 27.3% –
Return on equity 22.0% 7.2% -132.5%
Return on assets 9.3% 5.0% -51.7%
Return on invested capital 12.4% 6.9% –
Return on capital employed 13.1% 8.4% -24.0%
Asset turnover 0.9x 0.5x 0.0x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.6x 2.8x –
Stock comp / revenue 3.5% 3.4% 434.9%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCIENDGIINN
Debt / assets 40.4% 11.2% –
Debt / equity 1.1x 0.2x –
Net debt / EBITDA 0.7x 0.7x –
Debt / FCF 4.0x 0.8x –
Liabilities / assets 61.8% 29.0% 14.0%
Equity / assets 38.2% 71.0% 86.0%
Interest coverage 10.6x 8.9x –
Current ratio 3.8x 1.1x 25.6x
Quick ratio 2.8x 0.7x 19.5x
Cash ratio 1.9x 0.2x 19.3x
Altman Z-score 7.21 7.59 18.53

Shareholder Returns

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

ConsensusCIENDGIINN
Forward P/E 45.9xFY2026 27.9xFY2026 –
EPS, next fiscal year $7.60FY2026 $2.78FY2026 $-0.57FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +187.9%FY2026 +32.4%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after +64.7% +9.4% –
Revenue, next fiscal year $6.86BFY2026 $519.66MFY2026 $3.87MFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +43.8%FY2026 +20.8%FY2026 -15.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +18.0% +3.8% +1.6%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCIENDGIINN
Held by institutions 92.9% 100.0% 60.4%
Institutions holding 1,221 284 228
Change in shares held, QoQ -1.7% +1.6% +18.1%
Institutions buying 730 143 153
Institutions selling 379 105 48
Buyers to sellers 1.93 1.36 3.19

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.

CIENDGIINN
CIEN 1.00 0.32 0.25
DGII 0.32 1.00 0.26
NN 0.25 0.26 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CIEN, DGII and NN?

Ciena (CIEN) is the largest by market capitalisation: Ciena (CIEN) $45.23B, Digi International (DGII) $2.75B, Nextnav (NN) $1.62B.

Which stock is cheaper, CIEN, DGII and NN?

Digi International (DGII) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Ciena (CIEN) 69.1x, Digi International (DGII) 56.5x, Nextnav (NN) -9.8x). On next year's consensus earnings, Digi International (DGII) is cheapest (Ciena (CIEN) 45.9x, Digi International (DGII) 27.9x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Ciena (CIEN) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Ciena (CIEN) +32.6%, Digi International (DGII) +20.3%, Nextnav (NN) -33.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

Ciena (CIEN) has the highest net margin (Ciena (CIEN) 10.9%, Digi International (DGII) 9.6%, Nextnav (NN) -3,930.9%). On return on invested capital, Ciena (CIEN) leads (Ciena (CIEN) 12.4%, Digi International (DGII) 6.9%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Digi International (DGII) returned the most: Ciena (CIEN) +84.5%, Digi International (DGII) +103.5%, Nextnav (NN) -9.9%. Over five years, Ciena (CIEN) compounded fastest (Ciena (CIEN) +45.1%/yr, Digi International (DGII) +29.2%/yr, Nextnav (NN) +2.0%/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%, Nextnav (NN) 80.7%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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 6. 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.