CIEN vs SILC Stock Comparison

Ciena and Silicom 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
6 wins
SILC Silicom Ltd.
$40.10 -24.0% 1M +133.3% 1Y
Market cap
$239.69M
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$75.43M
Div. yield
–
Networking Equipment Technology
1 win

Head to Head

7 decided of 12

Ciena leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Ciena 6, Silicom 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCIENSILCLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $49.96B $239.69M CIEN
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 76.4x -24.5x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 44.2x — –
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +32.6% +28.6% CIEN
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 10.9% -13.0% CIEN
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 12.4% — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.7x — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +87.7% +133.3% SILC
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +44.4%/yr -1.4%/yr CIEN
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 77.9% 90.3% CIEN
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 55/100 36/100 CIEN

Percentile Scorecard

CIENSILC

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

AxisCIENSILC
Valuation 19 #90 of 111 42 #65 of 111
Growth 95 #6 of 108 22 #85 of 108
Profitability 83 #19 of 104 18 #86 of 104
Financial Health 43 #66 of 115 65 #41 of 115
Shareholder Returns 34 #54 of 81 –
Overall 55 36
  • CIEN ranked among 121 companies in Computer Hardware
  • SILC ranked among 121 companies in Computer Hardware

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodCIENSILCSPY
1 month -5.8%-24.0% -0.8%
3 months -10.9%+1.8% +3.5%
6 months -33.6%+38.8% +7.0%
Year to date +43.7%+172.8% +12.2%
1 year +87.7%+133.3% +13.0%
3 years +719.3%+167.3% +86.3%
3 years, per year +101.7%+38.8% +23.1%
5 years +526.3%-6.6% +68.6%
5 years, per year +44.4%-1.4% +11.0%
10 years +1,548.3%-4.1% +258.0%
10 years, per year +32.3%-0.4% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureCIENSILCSPY
Volatility, 1Y 77.9%90.3% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 82.8%79.5% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 2.783.00 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.131.48 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -49.7%-77.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -46.4%-35.0% -1.8%
52-week high $627.00$61.65 $779.14
52-week low $176.45$13.50 $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.

MultipleCIENSILC
P/E now vs peer median 73.0xmedian 32.0x -23.4xmedian 32.0x
P/S now vs peer median 7.9xmedian 2.8x 3.0xmedian 2.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 53.8xmedian 19.4x —median 19.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median 58.6xmedian 29.0x —median 29.0x
P/B now vs peer median 15.6xmedian 2.9x 2.0xmedian 2.9x
PEG now vs peer median 1.63median 1.13 0.62median 1.13

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 monthsCIENSILC
Revenue $6.02B $75.43M
Gross profit $2.65B $22.75M
Operating income $738.95M -$10.69M
Net income $654.41M -$9.79M
Free cash flow $814.36M –
R&D $924.94M $21.03M
EPS (diluted) $4.48 $-1.72
Cash & equivalents $2.45B $25.15M
Total debt $3.23B –
Shares (diluted) 145.97M 5.71M
Enterprise value $43.52B $100.39M

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
MetricCIENSILC
P/E 73.0x -23.4x
P/FCF 58.6x –
P/Operating cash flow 45.2x –
P/S 7.9x 3.0x
P/B 15.6x 2.0x
P/Tangible book 16.6x 2.1x
EV/EBITDA 53.8x –
EV/EBIT 65.3x -18.5x
EV/Revenue 8.0x 2.6x
EV/FCF 59.3x –
EV/Operating cash flow 45.8x –
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.63 0.62

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCIENSILC
Revenue growth (1Y) 32.6% 28.6%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 12.5% -22.1%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 40.6% 31.6%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 13.3% -24.5%
Operating income growth (1Y) 200.1% 18.2%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 29.1% -35.7%
Net income growth (1Y) 364.5% 34.3%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 43.5% -36.0%
EPS growth (1Y) 359.9% 30.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 44.8% -37.8%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 34.5% –
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 201.2% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 34.5% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 95.4% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCIENSILC
Gross margin 44.1% 30.2%
EBITDA margin 14.9% –
Operating margin 12.3% -14.2%
Pretax margin 12.1% -12.3%
Net margin 10.9% -13.0%
FCF margin 13.5% –
Operating cash flow margin 17.5% –
Return on equity 22.0% -8.5%
Return on assets 9.3% -6.1%
Return on invested capital 12.4% –
Return on capital employed 13.1% -8.9%
Asset turnover 0.9x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.6x –
Stock comp / revenue 3.5% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCIENSILC
Debt / assets 40.4% –
Debt / equity 1.1x –
Net debt / EBITDA 0.7x –
Debt / FCF 4.0x –
Liabilities / assets 61.8% 29.5%
Equity / assets 38.2% 70.5%
Interest coverage 10.6x –
Current ratio 3.8x 3.1x
Quick ratio 2.8x 1.3x
Cash ratio 1.9x 0.8x
Altman Z-score 6.99 4.50

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCIENSILC
Dividend yield – –
Net buyback yield -1.0% –
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.

ConsensusCIENSILC
Forward P/E 44.2xFY2026 –
EPS, next fiscal year $7.60FY2026 $-0.43FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +187.9%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after +64.7% –
Revenue, next fiscal year $6.86BFY2026 $91.18MFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +43.8%FY2026 +47.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +18.0% +29.1%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCIENSILC
Held by institutions 92.9% 43.1%
Institutions holding 1,220 51
Change in shares held, QoQ -1.7% +42.4%
Institutions buying 729 32
Institutions selling 379 12
Buyers to sellers 1.92 2.67

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.

CIENSILC
CIEN 1.00 0.42
SILC 0.42 1.00

Add a Peer

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CIEN and SILC?

Ciena (CIEN) is the largest by market capitalisation: Ciena (CIEN) $49.96B, Silicom (SILC) $239.69M.

Which company is growing faster?

Ciena (CIEN) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Ciena (CIEN) +32.6%, Silicom (SILC) +28.6%.

Which company is more profitable?

Ciena (CIEN) has the highest net margin (Ciena (CIEN) 10.9%, Silicom (SILC) -13.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Silicom (SILC) returned the most: Ciena (CIEN) +87.7%, Silicom (SILC) +133.3%. Over five years, Ciena (CIEN) compounded fastest (Ciena (CIEN) +44.4%/yr, Silicom (SILC) -1.4%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Ciena (CIEN) has been the steadiest (Ciena (CIEN) 77.9%, Silicom (SILC) 90.3%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do CIEN and SILC move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.42, a moderate positive relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, CIEN and SILC?

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.