CIEN vs ERIC vs NOW Stock Comparison

Ciena, Ericsson Lm Telephone and ServiceNow Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
CIEN Ciena Corp
$336.09 -5.8% 1M +87.7% 1Y
Market cap
$49.96B
P/E
76.4x
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
$36.91B
P/E
18.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$24.56B
Div. yield
-0.03%
Networking Equipment Technology
6 wins
NOW ServiceNow, Inc.
$158.19 +16.6% 1M -15.0% 1Y
Market cap
$159.67B
P/E
95.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$14.73B
Div. yield
–
Business Process Automation 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, ServiceNow 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCIENERICNOWLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $49.96B $36.91B $159.67B NOW
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 76.4x 18.1x 95.6x ERIC
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 44.2x 16.8x 41.1x ERIC
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +32.6% -38.5% +22.2% CIEN
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 10.9% 8.3% 11.3% NOW
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 12.4% 20.0% — ERIC
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.7x -0.6x 0.8x ERIC
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% -0.03% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +87.7% +15.2% -15.0% CIEN
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +44.4%/yr -0.2%/yr +3.5%/yr CIEN
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 77.9% 36.5% 58.8% ERIC
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 55/100 59/100 52/100 ERIC

Percentile Scorecard

CIENERICNOW

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

AxisCIENERICNOW
Valuation 19 #90 of 111 88 #14 of 111 28 #74 of 102
Growth 95 #6 of 108 46 #59 of 108 58 #42 of 98
Profitability 83 #19 of 104 86 #15 of 104 82 #18 of 95
Financial Health 43 #66 of 115 40 #70 of 115 50 #55 of 109
Shareholder Returns 34 #54 of 81 38 #51 of 81 41 #38 of 64
Overall 55 59 52
  • CIEN ranked among 121 companies in Computer Hardware
  • ERIC ranked among 121 companies in Computer Hardware
  • NOW ranked among 115 companies in Business Applications

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodCIENERICNOWSPY
1 month -5.8%+14.3%+16.6% -0.8%
3 months -10.9%+12.6%+49.9% +3.5%
6 months -33.6%-1.5%+74.9% +7.0%
Year to date +43.7%+12.8%+3.3% +12.2%
1 year +87.7%+15.2%-15.0% +13.0%
3 years +719.3%+149.8%+42.8% +86.3%
3 years, per year +101.7%+35.7%+12.6% +23.1%
5 years +526.3%-1.0%+19.0% +68.6%
5 years, per year +44.4%-0.2%+3.5% +11.0%
10 years +1,548.3%+116.1%+902.5% +258.0%
10 years, per year +32.3%+8.0%+25.9% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureCIENERICNOWSPY
Volatility, 1Y 77.9%36.5%58.8% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 82.8%36.7%61.5% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 2.781.030.62 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.130.42-0.25 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -49.7%-65.8%-64.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -46.4%-20.7%-16.4% -1.8%
52-week high $627.00$13.74$189.26 $779.14
52-week low $176.45$9.15$83.00 $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.

MultipleCIENERICNOW
P/E now vs peer median 73.0xmedian 32.0x 17.8xmedian 32.0x 97.7xmedian 28.8x
P/S now vs peer median 7.9xmedian 2.8x 1.5xmedian 2.8x 11.1xmedian 2.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 53.8xmedian 19.4x 9.1xmedian 19.4x 48.7xmedian 17.7x
P/FCF now vs peer median 58.6xmedian 29.0x 9.8xmedian 29.0x 35.7xmedian 15.8x
P/B now vs peer median 15.6xmedian 2.9x 3.3xmedian 2.9x 13.1xmedian 3.2x
PEG now vs peer median 1.63median 1.13 0.41median 1.13 18.80median 0.85

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 monthsCIENERICNOW
Revenue $6.02B $24.56B $14.73B
Gross profit $2.65B $11.51B $11.02B
Operating income $738.95M $2.90B $1.68B
Net income $654.41M $2.04B $1.67B
Free cash flow $814.36M $3.76B $4.58B
R&D $924.94M $5.22B $3.26B
EPS (diluted) $4.48 $0.61 $1.61
Cash & equivalents $2.45B $5.11B $2.50B
Total debt $3.23B $3.73B $7.52B
Shares (diluted) 145.97M 3.34B 1.03B
Enterprise value $43.52B $14.53B $138.13B

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
MetricCIENERICNOW
P/E 73.0x 17.8x 97.7x
P/FCF 58.6x 9.8x 35.7x
P/Operating cash flow 45.2x 10.7x 30.8x
P/S 7.9x 1.5x 11.1x
P/B 15.6x 3.3x 13.1x
P/Tangible book 16.6x 3.3x 18.7x
EV/EBITDA 53.8x 9.1x 48.7x
EV/EBIT 65.3x 11.9x 99.1x
EV/Revenue 8.0x 1.4x 11.3x
EV/FCF 59.3x 9.2x 36.3x
EV/Operating cash flow 45.8x 10.0x 31.4x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.63 0.41 18.80

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCIENERICNOW
Revenue growth (1Y) 32.6% -38.5% 22.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 12.5% -2.0% 22.5%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 40.6% 3.7% 16.4%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 13.3% 4.0% 20.5%
Operating income growth (1Y) 200.1% -18.4% 4.9%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 29.1% 55.0% 49.1%
Net income growth (1Y) 364.5% -18.7% 0.5%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 43.5% 43.4% 5.5%
EPS growth (1Y) 359.9% -17.7% 1.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 44.8% 43.1% 5.2%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 34.5% 4.3% 13.0%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 201.2% 44.0% 22.2%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 34.5% 6.1% 19.0%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 95.4% 34.7% 25.7%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCIENERICNOW
Gross margin 44.1% 46.8% 74.8%
EBITDA margin 14.9% 15.4% 23.2%
Operating margin 12.3% 11.8% 11.4%
Pretax margin 12.1% 11.2% 15.9%
Net margin 10.9% 8.3% 11.3%
FCF margin 13.5% 15.3% 31.1%
Operating cash flow margin 17.5% 14.0% 36.0%
Return on equity 22.0% 18.7% 13.8%
Return on assets 9.3% 6.8% 6.0%
Return on invested capital 12.4% 20.0% –
Return on capital employed 13.1% 17.8% 10.6%
Asset turnover 0.9x 0.8x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.6x 1.7x 3.2x
Stock comp / revenue 3.5% – 12.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCIENERICNOW
Debt / assets 40.4% 12.4% 23.7%
Debt / equity 1.1x 0.3x 0.6x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.7x -0.6x 0.8x
Debt / FCF 4.0x 1.0x 1.6x
Liabilities / assets 61.8% 63.1% 60.5%
Equity / assets 38.2% 36.9% 39.5%
Interest coverage 10.6x – –
Current ratio 3.8x 1.2x 0.7x
Quick ratio 2.8x 0.8x 0.6x
Cash ratio 1.9x 0.4x 0.4x
Altman Z-score 6.99 – 5.89

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCIENERICNOW
Dividend yield – 2.8% –
Net buyback yield -1.0% -2.2% 1.9%
Shareholder yield -1.0% 0.6% 1.9%
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.

ConsensusCIENERICNOW
Forward P/E 44.2xFY2026 16.8xFY2026 41.1xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $7.60FY2026 $0.65FY2026 $3.85FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +187.9%FY2026 -30.9%FY2026 +9.7%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +64.7% -3.1% +27.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $6.86BFY2026 $24.16BFY2026 $15.25BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +43.8%FY2026 -8.1%FY2026 +14.8%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +18.0% +1.0% +17.7%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCIENERICNOW
Held by institutions 92.9% 9.5% 81.6%
Institutions holding 1,220 388 2,224
Change in shares held, QoQ -1.7% +0.4% -2.1%
Institutions buying 729 219 1,285
Institutions selling 379 110 779
Buyers to sellers 1.92 1.99 1.65

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.

CIENERICNOW
CIEN 1.00 0.31 -0.21
ERIC 0.31 1.00 0.20
NOW -0.21 0.20 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CIEN, ERIC and NOW?

ServiceNow (NOW) is the largest by market capitalisation: Ciena (CIEN) $49.96B, Ericsson Lm Telephone (ERIC) $36.91B, ServiceNow (NOW) $159.67B.

Which stock is cheaper, CIEN, ERIC and NOW?

Ericsson Lm Telephone (ERIC) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Ciena (CIEN) 76.4x, Ericsson Lm Telephone (ERIC) 18.1x, ServiceNow (NOW) 95.6x). On next year's consensus earnings, Ericsson Lm Telephone (ERIC) is cheapest (Ciena (CIEN) 44.2x, Ericsson Lm Telephone (ERIC) 16.8x, ServiceNow (NOW) 41.1x). 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%, Ericsson Lm Telephone (ERIC) -38.5%, ServiceNow (NOW) +22.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

ServiceNow (NOW) has the highest net margin (Ciena (CIEN) 10.9%, Ericsson Lm Telephone (ERIC) 8.3%, ServiceNow (NOW) 11.3%). On return on invested capital, Ericsson Lm Telephone (ERIC) leads (Ciena (CIEN) 12.4%, Ericsson Lm Telephone (ERIC) 20.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Ciena (CIEN) returned the most: Ciena (CIEN) +87.7%, Ericsson Lm Telephone (ERIC) +15.2%, ServiceNow (NOW) -15.0%. Over five years, Ciena (CIEN) compounded fastest (Ciena (CIEN) +44.4%/yr, Ericsson Lm Telephone (ERIC) -0.2%/yr, ServiceNow (NOW) +3.5%/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%, ServiceNow (NOW) 58.8%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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.