CIEN vs EXTR vs RBBN Stock Comparison

Ciena, Extreme Networks and Ribbon Communications Prices as of Nov 3, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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CIEN Ciena Corp
$299.99 -23.3% 1M +58.3% 1Y
Market cap
$38.28B
P/E
58.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$6.02B
Div. yield
–
Networking Equipment Technology
5 wins
EXTR Extreme Networks Inc
$22.81 -1.3% 1M +21.5% 1Y
Market cap
$3.00B
P/E
57.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.31B
Div. yield
–
Networking Equipment Technology
5 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

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

QuestionCIENEXTRRBBNLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $38.28B $3.00B $273.66M CIEN
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 58.5x 57.2x 14.7x RBBN
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 39.5x 16.5x 31.6x EXTR
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +32.6% +11.3% -7.8% CIEN
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 10.9% 4.0% 2.3% CIEN
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 12.4% 23.5% 0.0% EXTR
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.7x -0.4x 9.4x EXTR
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +58.3% +21.5% -53.0% CIEN
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +37.6%/yr +14.7%/yr -23.5%/yr CIEN
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 79.6% 53.2% 69.6% EXTR
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 55/100 58/100 40/100 EXTR

Percentile Scorecard

CIENEXTRRBBN

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

AxisCIENEXTRRBBN
Valuation 21 #89 of 112 51 #56 of 112 64 #41 of 112
Growth 94 #7 of 108 49 #56 of 108 17 #90 of 108
Profitability 83 #19 of 104 76 #26 of 104 32 #71 of 104
Financial Health 41 #69 of 116 23 #90 of 116 17 #97 of 116
Shareholder Returns 35 #56 of 85 91 #9 of 85 71 #25 of 85
Overall 55 58 40
  • CIEN ranked among 121 companies in Computer Hardware
  • EXTR ranked among 121 companies in Computer Hardware
  • RBBN ranked among 121 companies in Computer Hardware

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodCIENEXTRRBBNSPY
1 month -23.3%-1.3%-10.7% -2.0%
3 months -27.0%-29.5%-27.2% -2.2%
6 months -44.9%-3.8%-42.1% +4.2%
Year to date +28.3%+37.0%-45.1% +10.6%
1 year +58.3%+21.5%-53.0% +10.4%
3 years +583.3%+35.8%-23.3% +73.6%
3 years, per year +89.8%+10.7%-8.5% +20.2%
5 years +393.2%+98.3%-73.8% +61.6%
5 years, per year +37.6%+14.7%-23.5% +10.1%
10 years +1,456.8%+432.9%-71.7% +261.3%
10 years, per year +31.6%+18.2%-11.9% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureCIENEXTRRBBNSPY
Volatility, 1Y 79.6%53.2%69.6% 12.8%
Downside volatility, 1Y 85.5%51.5%79.5% 12.8%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 2.901.621.33 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.730.40-0.76 0.81
Max drawdown, 5Y -54.7%-67.2%-78.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -52.2%-32.3%-53.0% -3.2%
52-week high $627.00$33.71$3.36 $779.14
52-week low $176.45$13.74$1.32 $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.

MultipleCIENEXTRRBBN
P/E now vs peer median 65.1xmedian 30.7x 57.2xmedian 30.7x 15.2xmedian 30.7x
P/S now vs peer median 7.1xmedian 2.6x 2.3xmedian 2.6x 0.4xmedian 2.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 48.1xmedian 18.9x 29.6xmedian 18.9x 18.2xmedian 18.9x
P/FCF now vs peer median 52.3xmedian 28.0x 19.5xmedian 28.0x -9.7xmedian 28.0x
P/B now vs peer median 13.9xmedian 2.8x 34.3xmedian 2.8x 0.7xmedian 2.8x
PEG now vs peer median 1.45median 1.07 -3.18median 1.07 0.46median 1.07

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 monthsCIENEXTRRBBN
Revenue $6.02B $1.31B $800.98M
Gross profit $2.65B $813.05M $386.62M
Operating income $738.95M $74.49M -$29.02M
Net income $654.41M $52.49M $18.59M
Free cash flow $814.36M $154.76M -$29.11M
R&D $924.94M $233.95M $178.44M
EPS (diluted) $4.48 $0.39 $0.10
Cash & equivalents $2.45B $244.52M $40.38M
Total debt $3.23B $200.00M $342.88M
Shares (diluted) 145.97M 134.68M 178.86M
Enterprise value $31.83B $2.11B $25.81M

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
MetricCIENEXTRRBBN
P/E 65.1x 57.2x 15.2x
P/FCF 52.3x 19.5x -9.7x
P/Operating cash flow 40.4x 16.5x -15.1x
P/S 7.1x 2.3x 0.4x
P/B 13.9x 34.3x 0.7x
P/Tangible book 14.8x 35.3x 1.0x
EV/EBITDA 48.1x 29.6x 18.2x
EV/EBIT 58.4x 39.9x -20.2x
EV/Revenue 7.2x 2.3x 0.7x
EV/FCF 53.0x 19.2x -20.1x
EV/Operating cash flow 40.9x 16.3x -31.3x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.45 -3.18 0.46

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCIENEXTRRBBN
Revenue growth (1Y) 32.6% 11.3% -7.8%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 12.5% -1.3% -1.3%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 40.6% 11.7% -12.1%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 13.3% 0.5% -1.2%
Operating income growth (1Y) 200.1% 126.0% -240.9%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 29.1% -16.3% 9.9%
Net income growth (1Y) 364.5% 506.9% 143.2%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 43.5% -17.7% 33.0%
EPS growth (1Y) 359.9% 508.7% 142.6%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 44.8% -18.0% 32.7%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 34.5% 52.9% -122.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 201.2% -12.8% -50.8%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 34.5% 63.2% -155.4%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 95.4% -15.9% -90.6%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCIENEXTRRBBN
Gross margin 44.1% 61.9% 48.3%
EBITDA margin 14.9% 7.6% 4.0%
Operating margin 12.3% 5.7% -3.6%
Pretax margin 12.1% 4.7% -8.9%
Net margin 10.9% 4.0% 2.3%
FCF margin 13.5% 11.8% -3.6%
Operating cash flow margin 17.5% 13.9% -2.3%
Return on equity 22.0% 59.4% 4.8%
Return on assets 9.3% 4.2% 1.6%
Return on invested capital 12.4% 23.5% 0.0%
Return on capital employed 13.1% 12.8% -3.5%
Asset turnover 0.9x 1.1x 0.7x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.6x 3.5x -1.0x
Stock comp / revenue 3.5% 6.7% 2.7%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCIENEXTRRBBN
Debt / assets 40.4% 15.4% 29.8%
Debt / equity 1.1x 2.3x 0.9x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.7x -0.4x 9.4x
Debt / FCF 4.0x 1.3x -11.8x
Liabilities / assets 61.8% 93.2% 66.2%
Equity / assets 38.2% 6.8% 33.8%
Interest coverage 10.6x 4.9x –
Current ratio 3.8x 1.0x 1.3x
Quick ratio 2.8x 0.6x 1.1x
Cash ratio 1.9x 0.4x 0.1x
Altman Z-score 6.37 1.74 -1.01

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCIENEXTRRBBN
Dividend yield – – –
Net buyback yield -1.1% 3.3% 1.4%
Shareholder yield -1.1% 3.3% 1.4%
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.

ConsensusCIENEXTRRBBN
Forward P/E 39.5xFY2026 16.5xFY2027 31.6xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $7.60FY2026 $1.38FY2027 $0.05FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +187.9%FY2026 +30.2%FY2027 -92.4%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +64.7% +2.9% +200.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $6.86BFY2026 $1.34BFY2027 $790.52MFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +43.8%FY2026 +4.5%FY2027 -6.4%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +18.0% +21.3% +11.9%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCIENEXTRRBBN
Held by institutions 93.0% 96.7% 71.8%
Institutions holding 1,224 339 161
Change in shares held, QoQ -1.7% +1.2% -0.7%
Institutions buying 733 182 88
Institutions selling 379 121 41
Buyers to sellers 1.93 1.50 2.15

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.

CIENEXTRRBBN
CIEN 1.00 0.32 0.23
EXTR 0.32 1.00 0.21
RBBN 0.23 0.21 1.00

Add a Peer

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CIEN, EXTR and RBBN?

Ciena (CIEN) is the largest by market capitalisation: Ciena (CIEN) $38.28B, Extreme Networks (EXTR) $3.00B, Ribbon Communications (RBBN) $273.66M.

Which stock is cheaper, CIEN, EXTR and RBBN?

Ribbon Communications (RBBN) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Ciena (CIEN) 58.5x, Extreme Networks (EXTR) 57.2x, Ribbon Communications (RBBN) 14.7x). On next year's consensus earnings, Extreme Networks (EXTR) is cheapest (Ciena (CIEN) 39.5x, Extreme Networks (EXTR) 16.5x, Ribbon Communications (RBBN) 31.6x). 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) +11.3%, Ribbon Communications (RBBN) -7.8%.

Which company is more profitable?

Ciena (CIEN) has the highest net margin (Ciena (CIEN) 10.9%, Extreme Networks (EXTR) 4.0%, Ribbon Communications (RBBN) 2.3%). On return on invested capital, Extreme Networks (EXTR) leads (Ciena (CIEN) 12.4%, Extreme Networks (EXTR) 23.5%, Ribbon Communications (RBBN) 0.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Ciena (CIEN) returned the most: Ciena (CIEN) +58.3%, Extreme Networks (EXTR) +21.5%, Ribbon Communications (RBBN) -53.0%. Over five years, Ciena (CIEN) compounded fastest (Ciena (CIEN) +37.6%/yr, Extreme Networks (EXTR) +14.7%/yr, Ribbon Communications (RBBN) -23.5%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Extreme Networks (EXTR) has been the steadiest (Ciena (CIEN) 79.6%, Extreme Networks (EXTR) 53.2%, Ribbon Communications (RBBN) 69.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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.