CSCO vs MA vs CIEN Stock Comparison

Cisco Systems, Mastercard and Ciena Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
CSCO Cisco Systems, Inc.
$110.24 +3.3% 1M +56.1% 1Y
Market cap
$440.44B
P/E
33.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$63.33B
Div. yield
–
Networking Equipment Technology
1 win
MA Mastercard Inc
$613.59 +8.1% 1M +7.0% 1Y
Market cap
$536.02B
P/E
33.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$35.08B
Div. yield
–
Payment Networks Financial Services
6 wins
CIEN Ciena Corp
$336.09 -5.8% 1M +87.7% 1Y
Market cap
$49.83B
P/E
76.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$6.02B
Div. yield
–
Networking Equipment Technology
4 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Mastercard leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Mastercard 6, Ciena 4, Cisco Systems 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCSCOMACIENLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $440.44B $536.02B $49.83B MA
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 33.2x 33.0x 76.1x MA
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 23.3x 29.2x 44.2x CSCO
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +11.8% +16.0% +32.6% CIEN
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 21.0% 46.3% 10.9% MA
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 15.9% 59.0% 12.4% MA
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.8x 0.6x 0.7x MA
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +56.1% +7.0% +87.7% CIEN
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +14.4%/yr +12.8%/yr +44.4%/yr CIEN
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 35.6% 22.7% 77.9% MA
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 53/100 52/100 55/100 CIEN

Percentile Scorecard

CSCOMACIEN

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

AxisCSCOMACIEN
Valuation 31 #77 of 111 14 #815 of 947 19 #90 of 111
Growth 40 #65 of 108 66 #238 of 691 95 #6 of 108
Profitability 87 #14 of 104 99 #8 of 673 83 #19 of 104
Financial Health 28 #83 of 115 50 #379 of 754 43 #66 of 115
Shareholder Returns 78 #19 of 81 34 #474 of 713 34 #54 of 81
Overall 53 52 55
  • CSCO ranked among 121 companies in Computer Hardware
  • MA ranked among 1,011 companies in Financial Services
  • CIEN ranked among 121 companies in Computer Hardware

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodCSCOMACIENSPY
1 month +3.3%+8.1%-5.8% -0.8%
3 months -3.8%+11.2%-10.9% +3.5%
6 months +24.9%+21.2%-33.6% +7.0%
Year to date +43.1%+7.5%+43.7% +12.2%
1 year +56.1%+7.0%+87.7% +13.0%
3 years +113.8%+68.5%+719.3% +86.3%
3 years, per year +28.8%+19.0%+101.7% +23.1%
5 years +96.2%+82.8%+526.3% +68.6%
5 years, per year +14.4%+12.8%+44.4% +11.0%
10 years +260.9%+494.4%+1,548.3% +258.0%
10 years, per year +13.7%+19.5%+32.3% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureCSCOMACIENSPY
Volatility, 1Y 35.6%22.7%77.9% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 37.3%22.6%82.8% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.110.262.78 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.580.311.13 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -38.6%-28.6%-49.7% -25.4%
From 52-week high -15.2%-3.0%-46.4% -1.8%
52-week high $130.00$632.81$627.00 $779.14
52-week low $71.04$471.55$176.45 $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.

MultipleCSCOMACIEN
P/E now vs peer median 32.8xmedian 32.0x 33.3xmedian 13.1x 73.0xmedian 32.0x
P/S now vs peer median 6.9xmedian 2.8x 15.2xmedian 3.2x 7.9xmedian 2.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 25.1xmedian 19.4x 22.7xmedian 6.9x 53.8xmedian 19.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median 34.1xmedian 29.0x 32.0xmedian 10.9x 58.6xmedian 29.0x
P/B now vs peer median 8.7xmedian 2.9x 95.2xmedian 1.2x 15.6xmedian 2.9x
PEG now vs peer median 12.20median 1.13 1.70median 0.88 1.63median 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 monthsCSCOMACIEN
Revenue $63.33B $35.08B $6.02B
Gross profit $40.86B – $2.65B
Operating income $15.37B $20.47B $738.95M
Net income $13.27B $16.26B $654.41M
Free cash flow $12.77B $16.70B $814.36M
R&D $9.56B – $924.94M
EPS (diluted) $3.33 $18.41 $4.48
Cash & equivalents $7.22B $11.29B $2.45B
Total debt $29.53B $81.59B $3.23B
Shares (diluted) 3.99B 883.00M 145.97M
Enterprise value $376.37B $495.94B $43.39B

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
MetricCSCOMACIEN
P/E 32.8x 33.3x 73.0x
P/FCF 34.1x 32.0x 58.6x
P/Operating cash flow 30.7x 30.6x 45.2x
P/S 6.9x 15.2x 7.9x
P/B 8.7x 95.2x 15.6x
P/Tangible book 10.2x 3,685x 16.6x
EV/EBITDA 25.1x 22.7x 53.8x
EV/EBIT 29.2x 26.8x 65.3x
EV/Revenue 7.1x 15.6x 8.0x
EV/FCF 35.1x 32.8x 59.3x
EV/Operating cash flow 31.6x 31.4x 45.8x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 12.20 1.70 1.63

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCSCOMACIEN
Revenue growth (1Y) 11.8% 16.0% 32.6%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 3.6% 14.1% 12.5%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 11.1% – 40.6%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 4.6% – 13.3%
Operating income growth (1Y) 30.7% 21.3% 200.1%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 0.7% 16.1% 29.1%
Net income growth (1Y) 30.3% 19.7% 364.5%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 1.7% 16.7% 43.5%
EPS growth (1Y) 30.7% 23.2% 359.9%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 2.7% 19.5% 44.8%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -0.1% 2.9% 34.5%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -10.7% 14.6% 201.2%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -3.9% 0.9% 34.5%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -12.5% 14.4% 95.4%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCSCOMACIEN
Gross margin 64.5% – 44.1%
EBITDA margin 28.3% 68.6% 14.9%
Operating margin 24.3% 58.3% 12.3%
Pretax margin 25.3% 57.5% 12.1%
Net margin 21.0% 46.3% 10.9%
FCF margin 20.2% 47.6% 13.5%
Operating cash flow margin 22.4% 49.7% 17.5%
Return on equity 26.8% 263.6% 22.0%
Return on assets 10.4% 29.5% 9.3%
Return on invested capital 15.9% 59.0% 12.4%
Return on capital employed 17.9% 68.1% 13.1%
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.6x 0.9x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.1x 1.1x 1.6x
Stock comp / revenue 6.0% 1.8% 3.5%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCSCOMACIEN
Debt / assets 22.8% 42.7% 40.4%
Debt / equity 0.6x 4.4x 1.1x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.8x 0.6x 0.7x
Debt / FCF 2.3x 1.5x 4.0x
Liabilities / assets 61.2% 90.3% 61.8%
Equity / assets 38.8% 9.7% 38.2%
Interest coverage 10.5x 27.4x 10.6x
Current ratio 0.9x 1.1x 3.8x
Quick ratio 0.6x 0.7x 2.8x
Cash ratio 0.4x 0.5x 1.9x
Altman Z-score 4.16 10.19 6.99

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCSCOMACIEN
Dividend yield 1.5% 0.6% –
Net buyback yield 1.3% 2.9% -1.0%
Shareholder yield 2.8% 3.5% -1.0%
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.

ConsensusCSCOMACIEN
Forward P/E 23.3xFY2027 29.2xFY2026 44.2xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $4.74FY2027 $20.99FY2026 $7.60FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +9.5%FY2027 +23.4%FY2026 +187.9%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +20.7% +14.7% +64.7%
Revenue, next fiscal year $74.93BFY2027 $38.99BFY2026 $6.86BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +18.3%FY2027 +18.9%FY2026 +43.8%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +0.6% +0.4% +18.0%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCSCOMACIEN
Held by institutions 80.1% 88.6% 92.9%
Institutions holding 4,044 3,581 1,220
Change in shares held, QoQ +5.0% +0.6% -1.7%
Institutions buying 1,846 1,587 729
Institutions selling 1,816 1,526 379
Buyers to sellers 1.02 1.04 1.92

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.

CSCOMACIEN
CSCO 1.00 -0.05 0.36
MA -0.05 1.00 -0.26
CIEN 0.36 -0.26 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CSCO, MA and CIEN?

Mastercard (MA) is the largest by market capitalisation: Cisco Systems (CSCO) $440.44B, Mastercard (MA) $536.02B, Ciena (CIEN) $49.83B.

Which stock is cheaper, CSCO, MA and CIEN?

Mastercard (MA) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Cisco Systems (CSCO) 33.2x, Mastercard (MA) 33.0x, Ciena (CIEN) 76.1x). On next year's consensus earnings, Cisco Systems (CSCO) is cheapest (Cisco Systems (CSCO) 23.3x, Mastercard (MA) 29.2x, Ciena (CIEN) 44.2x). 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: Cisco Systems (CSCO) +11.8%, Mastercard (MA) +16.0%, Ciena (CIEN) +32.6%.

Which company is more profitable?

Mastercard (MA) has the highest net margin (Cisco Systems (CSCO) 21.0%, Mastercard (MA) 46.3%, Ciena (CIEN) 10.9%). On return on invested capital, Mastercard (MA) leads (Cisco Systems (CSCO) 15.9%, Mastercard (MA) 59.0%, Ciena (CIEN) 12.4%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Ciena (CIEN) returned the most: Cisco Systems (CSCO) +56.1%, Mastercard (MA) +7.0%, Ciena (CIEN) +87.7%. Over five years, Ciena (CIEN) compounded fastest (Cisco Systems (CSCO) +14.4%/yr, Mastercard (MA) +12.8%/yr, Ciena (CIEN) +44.4%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Mastercard (MA) has been the steadiest (Cisco Systems (CSCO) 35.6%, Mastercard (MA) 22.7%, Ciena (CIEN) 77.9%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, CSCO, MA and CIEN?

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