CIEN vs ERIC vs NET Stock Comparison

Ciena, Ericsson Lm Telephone and Cloudflare Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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CIEN Ciena Corp
$336.09 -5.8% 1M +87.7% 1Y
Market cap
$49.85B
P/E
76.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$6.02B
Div. yield
–
Networking Equipment Technology
3 wins
ERIC Ericsson Lm Telephone Co
$10.89 +14.3% 1M +15.2% 1Y
Market cap
$36.95B
P/E
18.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$24.56B
Div. yield
-0.03%
Networking Equipment Technology
6 wins
NET Cloudflare, Inc.
$332.09 -4.8% 1M +52.4% 1Y
Market cap
$117.51B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$2.51B
Div. yield
–
Content Delivery Networks Technology
2 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Ericsson Lm Telephone leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Ericsson Lm Telephone 6, Ciena 3, Cloudflare 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCIENERICNETLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $49.85B $36.95B $117.51B NET
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 76.2x 18.1x -569.7x ERIC
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 44.2x 16.8x 255.5x ERIC
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +32.6% -38.5% +33.5% NET
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 10.9% 8.3% -8.2% CIEN
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 12.4% 20.0% -12.4% ERIC
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.7x -0.6x 252.9x ERIC
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% -0.03% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +87.7% +15.2% +52.4% CIEN
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +44.4%/yr -0.2%/yr +13.2%/yr CIEN
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 77.9% 36.5% 67.1% ERIC
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 55/100 59/100 50/100 ERIC

Percentile Scorecard

CIENERICNET

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

AxisCIENERICNET
Valuation 19 #90 of 111 88 #14 of 111 16 #32 of 38
Growth 95 #6 of 108 46 #59 of 108 66 #13 of 36
Profitability 83 #19 of 104 86 #15 of 104 46 #19 of 34
Financial Health 43 #66 of 115 40 #70 of 115 60 #16 of 38
Shareholder Returns 34 #54 of 81 38 #51 of 81 65 #8 of 21
Overall 55 59 50
  • CIEN ranked among 121 companies in Computer Hardware
  • ERIC ranked among 121 companies in Computer Hardware
  • NET ranked among 39 companies in Cloud Computing

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodCIENERICNETSPY
1 month -5.8%+14.3%-4.8% -0.8%
3 months -10.9%+12.6%+25.0% +3.5%
6 months -33.6%-1.5%+56.4% +7.0%
Year to date +43.7%+12.8%+68.4% +12.2%
1 year +87.7%+15.2%+52.4% +13.0%
3 years +719.3%+149.8%+500.0% +86.3%
3 years, per year +101.7%+35.7%+81.8% +23.1%
5 years +526.3%-1.0%+85.9% +68.6%
5 years, per year +44.4%-0.2%+13.2% +11.0%
10 years +1,548.3%+116.1%— +258.0%
10 years, per year +32.3%+8.0%— +13.6%

Risk

MeasureCIENERICNETSPY
Volatility, 1Y 77.9%36.5%67.1% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 82.8%36.7%69.3% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 2.781.031.60 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.130.420.78 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -49.7%-65.8%-82.6% -25.4%
From 52-week high -46.4%-20.7%-8.0% -1.8%
52-week high $627.00$13.74$360.95 $779.14
52-week low $176.45$9.15$160.19 $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.

MultipleCIENERICNET
P/E now vs peer median 73.0xmedian 32.0x 17.8xmedian 32.0x -570.5xmedian 29.6x
P/S now vs peer median 7.9xmedian 2.8x 1.5xmedian 2.8x 42.6xmedian 4.2x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 53.8xmedian 19.4x 9.1xmedian 19.4x -9,176xmedian 24.2x
P/FCF now vs peer median 58.6xmedian 29.0x 9.8xmedian 29.0x 307.1xmedian 15.1x
P/B now vs peer median 15.6xmedian 2.9x 3.3xmedian 2.9x 66.0xmedian 3.9x
PEG now vs peer median 1.63median 1.13 0.41median 1.13 -131.34median 0.38

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 monthsCIENERICNET
Revenue $6.02B $24.56B $2.51B
Gross profit $2.65B $11.51B $1.82B
Operating income $738.95M $2.90B -$354.38M
Net income $654.41M $2.04B -$206.28M
Free cash flow $814.36M $3.76B $348.41M
R&D $924.94M $5.22B $573.30M
EPS (diluted) $4.48 $0.61 $-0.58
Cash & equivalents $2.45B $5.11B $1.66B
Total debt $3.23B $3.73B $1.29B
Shares (diluted) 145.97M 3.34B 354.33M
Enterprise value $43.41B $14.56B $101.03B

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
MetricCIENERICNET
P/E 73.0x 17.8x -570.5x
P/FCF 58.6x 9.8x 307.1x
P/Operating cash flow 45.2x 10.7x 168.9x
P/S 7.9x 1.5x 42.6x
P/B 15.6x 3.3x 66.0x
P/Tangible book 16.6x 3.3x 68.5x
EV/EBITDA 53.8x 9.1x -9,176x
EV/EBIT 65.3x 11.9x -293.8x
EV/Revenue 8.0x 1.4x 41.4x
EV/FCF 59.3x 9.2x 298.9x
EV/Operating cash flow 45.8x 10.0x 164.4x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.63 0.41 -131.34

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCIENERICNET
Revenue growth (1Y) 32.6% -38.5% 33.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 12.5% -2.0% 30.6%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 40.6% 3.7% 27.3%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 13.3% 4.0% 28.9%
Operating income growth (1Y) 200.1% -18.4% -90.5%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 29.1% 55.0% -21.0%
Net income growth (1Y) 364.5% -18.7% -76.2%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 43.5% 43.4% 2.3%
EPS growth (1Y) 359.9% -17.7% -72.8%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 44.8% 43.1% 4.3%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 34.5% 4.3% 32.6%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 201.2% 44.0% 41.9%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 34.5% 6.1% 67.1%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 95.4% 34.7% 61.1%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCIENERICNET
Gross margin 44.1% 46.8% 72.6%
EBITDA margin 14.9% 15.4% -0.5%
Operating margin 12.3% 11.8% -14.1%
Pretax margin 12.1% 11.2% -7.9%
Net margin 10.9% 8.3% -8.2%
FCF margin 13.5% 15.3% 13.9%
Operating cash flow margin 17.5% 14.0% 25.2%
Return on equity 22.0% 18.7% -13.1%
Return on assets 9.3% 6.8% -3.3%
Return on invested capital 12.4% 20.0% -12.4%
Return on capital employed 13.1% 17.8% -9.6%
Asset turnover 0.9x 0.8x 0.4x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.6x 1.7x -3.1x
Stock comp / revenue 3.5% – 20.2%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCIENERICNET
Debt / assets 40.4% 12.4% 20.0%
Debt / equity 1.1x 0.3x 0.8x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.7x -0.6x 252.9x
Debt / FCF 4.0x 1.0x 3.7x
Liabilities / assets 61.8% 63.1% 75.0%
Equity / assets 38.2% 36.9% 25.0%
Interest coverage 10.6x – -30.9x
Current ratio 3.8x 1.2x 1.8x
Quick ratio 2.8x 0.8x 1.8x
Cash ratio 1.9x 0.4x 1.6x
Altman Z-score 6.99 – 13.53

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCIENERICNET
Dividend yield – 2.8% –
Net buyback yield -1.0% -2.2% 0.0%
Shareholder yield -1.0% 0.6% 0.0%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 50.9% –
Payout ratio (FCF) – 27.7% –
Dividend growth (1Y) – -13.4% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – -7.7% –

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.

ConsensusCIENERICNET
Forward P/E 44.2xFY2026 16.8xFY2026 255.5xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $7.60FY2026 $0.65FY2026 $1.30FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +187.9%FY2026 -30.9%FY2026 +39.8%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +64.7% -3.1% +22.3%
Revenue, next fiscal year $6.86BFY2026 $24.16BFY2026 $3.02BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +43.8%FY2026 -8.1%FY2026 +39.0%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +18.0% +1.0% +16.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCIENERICNET
Held by institutions 92.9% 9.5% 88.2%
Institutions holding 1,220 388 1,219
Change in shares held, QoQ -1.7% +0.4% +2.8%
Institutions buying 729 219 704
Institutions selling 379 110 378
Buyers to sellers 1.92 1.99 1.86

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.

CIENERICNET
CIEN 1.00 0.31 0.18
ERIC 0.31 1.00 0.13
NET 0.18 0.13 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CIEN, ERIC and NET?

Cloudflare (NET) is the largest by market capitalisation: Ciena (CIEN) $49.85B, Ericsson Lm Telephone (ERIC) $36.95B, Cloudflare (NET) $117.51B.

Which stock is cheaper, CIEN, ERIC and NET?

Ericsson Lm Telephone (ERIC) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Ciena (CIEN) 76.2x, Ericsson Lm Telephone (ERIC) 18.1x, Cloudflare (NET) -569.7x). On next year's consensus earnings, Ericsson Lm Telephone (ERIC) is cheapest (Ciena (CIEN) 44.2x, Ericsson Lm Telephone (ERIC) 16.8x, Cloudflare (NET) 255.5x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Cloudflare (NET) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Ciena (CIEN) +32.6%, Ericsson Lm Telephone (ERIC) -38.5%, Cloudflare (NET) +33.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

Ciena (CIEN) has the highest net margin (Ciena (CIEN) 10.9%, Ericsson Lm Telephone (ERIC) 8.3%, Cloudflare (NET) -8.2%). On return on invested capital, Ericsson Lm Telephone (ERIC) leads (Ciena (CIEN) 12.4%, Ericsson Lm Telephone (ERIC) 20.0%, Cloudflare (NET) -12.4%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Ciena (CIEN) returned the most: Ciena (CIEN) +87.7%, Ericsson Lm Telephone (ERIC) +15.2%, Cloudflare (NET) +52.4%. Over five years, Ciena (CIEN) compounded fastest (Ciena (CIEN) +44.4%/yr, Ericsson Lm Telephone (ERIC) -0.2%/yr, Cloudflare (NET) +13.2%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Ericsson Lm Telephone (ERIC) has been the steadiest (Ciena (CIEN) 77.9%, Ericsson Lm Telephone (ERIC) 36.5%, Cloudflare (NET) 67.1%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, CIEN, ERIC and NET?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Ericsson Lm Telephone (ERIC) 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.