CIEN vs EXTR vs ERIC Stock Comparison

Ciena, Extreme Networks and Ericsson Lm Telephone Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
CIEN Ciena Corp
$320.30 -10.0% 1M +85.6% 1Y
Market cap
$47.78B
P/E
73.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$6.02B
Div. yield
–
Networking Equipment Technology
5 wins
EXTR Extreme Networks Inc
$21.97 -0.3% 1M +3.9% 1Y
Market cap
$3.01B
P/E
71.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.28B
Div. yield
–
Networking Equipment Technology
1 win
ERIC Ericsson Lm Telephone Co
$10.66 +9.6% 1M +12.4% 1Y
Market cap
$36.28B
P/E
17.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$24.56B
Div. yield
-0.03%
Networking Equipment Technology
5 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Ciena leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Ciena 5, Ericsson Lm Telephone 5, Extreme Networks 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCIENEXTRERICLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $47.78B $3.01B $36.28B CIEN
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 73.0x 71.5x 17.8x ERIC
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 42.1x 15.9x 16.7x EXTR
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +32.6% +12.6% -38.5% CIEN
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 10.9% 3.3% 8.3% CIEN
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 12.4% 19.4% 20.0% ERIC
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.7x -0.6x -0.6x ERIC
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% -0.03% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +85.6% +3.9% +12.4% CIEN
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +43.5%/yr +17.6%/yr -1.6%/yr CIEN
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 77.7% 55.3% 36.4% ERIC
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 55/100 52/100 60/100 ERIC

Percentile Scorecard

CIENEXTRERIC

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

AxisCIENEXTRERIC
Valuation 22 #88 of 112 37 #71 of 112 88 #14 of 112
Growth 95 #6 of 109 41 #65 of 109 46 #59 of 109
Profitability 83 #19 of 105 71 #31 of 105 87 #15 of 105
Financial Health 44 #66 of 117 23 #90 of 117 41 #70 of 117
Shareholder Returns 32 #56 of 82 88 #11 of 82 37 #52 of 82
Overall 55 52 60
  • CIEN ranked among 122 companies in Computer Hardware
  • EXTR ranked among 122 companies in Computer Hardware
  • ERIC ranked among 122 companies in Computer Hardware

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodCIENEXTRERICSPY
1 month -10.0%-0.3%+9.6% -1.0%
3 months -18.0%-25.5%+14.1% +2.9%
6 months -38.5%+24.9%-5.4% +6.4%
Year to date +37.0%+32.0%+10.5% +11.4%
1 year +85.6%+3.9%+12.4% +13.1%
3 years +670.7%+4.5%+140.6% +79.4%
3 years, per year +97.6%+1.5%+34.0% +21.5%
5 years +508.1%+124.9%-7.9% +67.7%
5 years, per year +43.5%+17.6%-1.6% +10.9%
10 years +1,507.1%+441.1%+109.0% +255.2%
10 years, per year +32.0%+18.4%+7.7% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureCIENEXTRERICSPY
Volatility, 1Y 77.7%55.3%36.4% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 82.8%56.2%36.4% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 2.761.511.01 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.100.070.34 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -49.7%-67.2%-65.8% -25.4%
From 52-week high -48.9%-34.8%-22.4% -2.5%
52-week high $627.00$33.71$13.74 $779.14
52-week low $172.58$13.74$9.15 $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.

MultipleCIENEXTRERIC
P/E now vs peer median 69.5xmedian 31.3x 69.2xmedian 31.3x 17.4xmedian 31.3x
P/S now vs peer median 7.5xmedian 2.6x 2.2xmedian 2.6x 1.5xmedian 2.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 51.3xmedian 19.6x 32.9xmedian 19.6x 8.9xmedian 19.6x
P/FCF now vs peer median 55.8xmedian 28.3x 30.3xmedian 28.3x 9.6xmedian 28.3x
P/B now vs peer median 14.9xmedian 2.9x 32.5xmedian 2.9x 3.2xmedian 2.9x
PEG now vs peer median 1.55median 1.15 -3.67median 1.15 0.40median 1.15

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 monthsCIENEXTRERIC
Revenue $6.02B $1.28B $24.56B
Gross profit $2.65B $789.14M $11.51B
Operating income $738.95M $62.70M $2.90B
Net income $654.41M $42.12M $2.04B
Free cash flow $814.36M $95.24M $3.76B
R&D $924.94M $233.88M $5.22B
EPS (diluted) $4.48 $0.31 $0.61
Cash & equivalents $2.45B $211.76M $5.11B
Total debt $3.23B $731.31M $14.14B
Shares (diluted) 145.97M 134.97M 3.34B
Enterprise value $41.34B $2.16B $13.89B

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
MetricCIENEXTRERIC
P/E 69.5x 69.2x 17.4x
P/FCF 55.8x 30.3x 9.6x
P/Operating cash flow 43.1x 23.4x 10.4x
P/S 7.5x 2.2x 1.5x
P/B 14.9x 32.5x 3.2x
P/Tangible book 15.8x 33.7x 3.2x
EV/EBITDA 51.3x 32.9x 8.9x
EV/EBIT 62.3x 45.2x 11.7x
EV/Revenue 7.6x 2.2x 1.4x
EV/FCF 56.5x 29.8x 9.0x
EV/Operating cash flow 43.7x 23.0x 9.8x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.55 -3.67 0.40

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCIENEXTRERIC
Revenue growth (1Y) 32.6% 12.6% -38.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 12.5% -0.7% -2.0%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 40.6% 11.3% 3.7%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 13.3% 1.5% 4.0%
Operating income growth (1Y) 200.1% 269.9% -18.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 29.1% -16.7% 55.0%
Net income growth (1Y) 364.5% 664.1% -18.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 43.5% -18.6% 43.4%
EPS growth (1Y) 359.9% 653.0% -17.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 44.8% -18.9% 43.1%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 34.5% -19.0% 4.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 201.2% -20.9% 44.0%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 34.5% -25.2% 6.1%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 95.4% -26.0% 34.7%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCIENEXTRERIC
Gross margin 44.1% 61.5% 46.8%
EBITDA margin 14.9% 6.7% 15.4%
Operating margin 12.3% 4.9% 11.8%
Pretax margin 12.1% 4.0% 11.2%
Net margin 10.9% 3.3% 8.3%
FCF margin 13.5% 7.4% 15.3%
Operating cash flow margin 17.5% 9.6% 14.0%
Return on equity 22.0% 50.3% 18.7%
Return on assets 9.3% 3.6% 6.8%
Return on invested capital 12.4% 19.4% 20.0%
Return on capital employed 13.1% 10.8% 17.8%
Asset turnover 0.9x 1.1x 0.8x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.6x 2.9x 1.7x
Stock comp / revenue 3.5% 6.9% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCIENEXTRERIC
Debt / assets 40.4% 13.9% 12.4%
Debt / equity 1.1x 1.8x 0.3x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.7x -0.6x -0.6x
Debt / FCF 4.0x 1.7x 1.0x
Liabilities / assets 61.8% 92.5% 63.1%
Equity / assets 38.2% 7.5% 36.9%
Interest coverage 10.6x 4.5x –
Current ratio 3.8x 0.9x 1.2x
Quick ratio 2.8x 0.6x 0.8x
Cash ratio 1.9x 0.4x 0.4x
Altman Z-score 6.72 1.73 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCIENEXTRERIC
Dividend yield – – 2.9%
Net buyback yield -1.1% 3.0% -2.3%
Shareholder yield -1.1% 3.0% 0.6%
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.

ConsensusCIENEXTRERIC
Forward P/E 42.1xFY2026 15.9xFY2027 16.7xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $7.60FY2026 $1.38FY2027 $0.64FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +187.9%FY2026 +30.2%FY2027 -31.9%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +64.7% +2.9% 0.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $6.86BFY2026 $1.34BFY2027 $24.06BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +43.8%FY2026 +4.5%FY2027 -8.5%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +18.0% +21.3% +0.7%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCIENEXTRERIC
Held by institutions 92.9% 96.7% 9.5%
Institutions holding 1,220 338 388
Change in shares held, QoQ -1.7% +1.2% +0.4%
Institutions buying 729 181 219
Institutions selling 379 121 110
Buyers to sellers 1.92 1.50 1.99

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.

CIENEXTRERIC
CIEN 1.00 0.28 0.31
EXTR 0.28 1.00 0.24
ERIC 0.31 0.24 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CIEN, EXTR and ERIC?

Ciena (CIEN) is the largest by market capitalisation: Ciena (CIEN) $47.78B, Extreme Networks (EXTR) $3.01B, Ericsson Lm Telephone (ERIC) $36.28B.

Which stock is cheaper, CIEN, EXTR and ERIC?

Ericsson Lm Telephone (ERIC) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Ciena (CIEN) 73.0x, Extreme Networks (EXTR) 71.5x, Ericsson Lm Telephone (ERIC) 17.8x). On next year's consensus earnings, Extreme Networks (EXTR) is cheapest (Ciena (CIEN) 42.1x, Extreme Networks (EXTR) 15.9x, Ericsson Lm Telephone (ERIC) 16.7x). 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%, Extreme Networks (EXTR) +12.6%, Ericsson Lm Telephone (ERIC) -38.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

Ciena (CIEN) has the highest net margin (Ciena (CIEN) 10.9%, Extreme Networks (EXTR) 3.3%, Ericsson Lm Telephone (ERIC) 8.3%). On return on invested capital, Ericsson Lm Telephone (ERIC) leads (Ciena (CIEN) 12.4%, Extreme Networks (EXTR) 19.4%, Ericsson Lm Telephone (ERIC) 20.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Ciena (CIEN) returned the most: Ciena (CIEN) +85.6%, Extreme Networks (EXTR) +3.9%, Ericsson Lm Telephone (ERIC) +12.4%. Over five years, Ciena (CIEN) compounded fastest (Ciena (CIEN) +43.5%/yr, Extreme Networks (EXTR) +17.6%/yr, Ericsson Lm Telephone (ERIC) -1.6%/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) 77.7%, Extreme Networks (EXTR) 55.3%, Ericsson Lm Telephone (ERIC) 36.4%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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 5. 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.