EXTR vs CIEN vs CSCO Stock Comparison

Extreme Networks, Ciena and Cisco Systems Prices as of Oct 28, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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EXTR Extreme Networks Inc
$24.44 +16.4% 1M +14.9% 1Y
Market cap
$3.21B
P/E
61.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.31B
Div. yield
–
Networking Equipment Technology
2 wins
CIEN Ciena Corp
$363.26 +5.6% 1M +98.5% 1Y
Market cap
$51.55B
P/E
78.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$6.02B
Div. yield
–
Networking Equipment Technology
4 wins
CSCO Cisco Systems, Inc.
$110.29 +3.3% 1M +51.9% 1Y
Market cap
$435.20B
P/E
32.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$63.33B
Div. yield
1.51%
Networking Equipment Technology
5 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Cisco Systems leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Cisco Systems 5, Ciena 4, Extreme Networks 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionEXTRCIENCSCOLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $3.21B $51.55B $435.20B CSCO
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 61.8x 78.9x 32.9x CSCO
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 17.7x 47.8x 23.3x EXTR
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +11.3% +32.6% +11.8% CIEN
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — 10.9% 21.0% CSCO
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 12.4% 15.9% CSCO
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 0.7x 0.8x CIEN
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield — — 1.51% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +14.9% +98.5% +51.9% CIEN
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +20.0%/yr +46.3%/yr +14.5%/yr CIEN
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 55.6% 77.9% 35.5% CSCO
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 58/100 56/100 55/100 EXTR

Percentile Scorecard

EXTRCIENCSCO

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

AxisEXTRCIENCSCO
Valuation 44 #63 of 111 21 #88 of 111 33 #75 of 111
Growth 53 #51 of 108 94 #7 of 108 40 #65 of 108
Profitability 76 #26 of 104 84 #18 of 104 88 #13 of 104
Financial Health – 43 #66 of 115 31 #80 of 115
Shareholder Returns – 36 #50 of 78 82 #15 of 78
Overall 58 56 55
  • EXTR ranked among 121 companies in Computer Hardware
  • CIEN ranked among 121 companies in Computer Hardware
  • CSCO ranked among 121 companies in Computer Hardware

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodEXTRCIENCSCOSPY
1 month +16.4%+5.6%+3.3% +0.9%
3 months -15.9%+9.9%-1.9% +5.9%
6 months +11.9%-23.6%+23.1% +8.5%
Year to date +46.8%+55.3%+43.2% +13.3%
1 year +14.9%+98.5%+51.9% +12.4%
3 years +19.0%+785.6%+113.9% +88.1%
3 years, per year +6.0%+107.0%+28.9% +23.5%
5 years +148.6%+569.1%+97.1% +68.2%
5 years, per year +20.0%+46.3%+14.5% +11.0%
10 years +503.5%+1,761.9%+260.5% +263.4%
10 years, per year +19.7%+34.0%+13.7% +13.8%

Risk

MeasureEXTRCIENCSCOSPY
Volatility, 1Y 55.6%77.9%35.5% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 56.6%82.8%37.1% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.562.791.10 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.271.261.46 0.98
Max drawdown, 5Y -67.2%-49.7%-38.6% -25.4%
From 52-week high -27.5%-42.1%-15.2% -0.9%
52-week high $33.71$627.00$130.00 $779.14
52-week low $13.74$176.45$71.04 $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.

MultipleEXTRCIENCSCO
P/E now vs peer median 61.8xmedian 33.5x 78.9xmedian 33.5x 32.9xmedian 33.5x
P/S now vs peer median 2.4xmedian 2.8x 8.6xmedian 2.8x 6.9xmedian 2.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 19.6x 58.1xmedian 19.6x 25.1xmedian 19.6x
P/FCF now vs peer median 29.0xmedian 29.8x 63.3xmedian 29.8x 34.1xmedian 29.8x
P/B now vs peer median 36.5xmedian 2.9x 16.9xmedian 2.9x 8.7xmedian 2.9x
PEG now vs peer median -3.43median 1.10 1.76median 1.10 12.20median 1.10

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 monthsEXTRCIENCSCO
Revenue $1.31B $6.02B $63.33B
Gross profit – $2.65B $40.86B
Operating income $74.49M $738.95M $15.37B
Net income $52.49M $654.41M $13.27B
Free cash flow – $814.36M $12.77B
R&D $233.95M $924.94M $9.56B
EPS (diluted) $0.39 $4.48 $3.33
Cash & equivalents $244.52M $2.45B $7.22B
Total debt – $3.23B $29.53B
Shares (diluted) 134.97M 145.97M 3.99B
Enterprise value $3.21B $45.11B $371.13B

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
MetricEXTRCIENCSCO
P/E 61.8x 78.9x 32.9x
P/FCF 29.0x 63.3x 34.1x
P/Operating cash flow 17.6x 48.9x 30.7x
P/S 2.4x 8.6x 6.9x
P/B 36.5x 16.9x 8.7x
P/Tangible book 37.5x 18.0x 10.2x
EV/EBITDA – 58.1x 25.1x
EV/EBIT – 70.6x 29.2x
EV/Revenue 2.4x 8.7x 7.1x
EV/FCF – 64.0x 35.2x
EV/Operating cash flow 17.6x 49.4x 31.7x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -3.43 1.76 12.20

Growth

14 metrics
MetricEXTRCIENCSCO
Revenue growth (1Y) 11.3% 32.6% 11.8%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -1.3% 12.5% 3.6%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 40.6% 11.1%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 13.3% 4.6%
Operating income growth (1Y) 126.0% 200.1% 30.7%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -16.3% 29.1% 0.7%
Net income growth (1Y) 506.9% 364.5% 30.3%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -17.7% 43.5% 1.7%
EPS growth (1Y) 507.4% 359.9% 30.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -18.0% 44.8% 2.7%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 52.9% 34.5% -0.1%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -12.8% 201.2% -10.7%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – 34.5% -3.9%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 95.4% -12.5%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricEXTRCIENCSCO
Gross margin – 44.1% 64.5%
EBITDA margin – 14.9% 28.3%
Operating margin – 12.3% 24.3%
Pretax margin – 12.1% 25.3%
Net margin – 10.9% 21.0%
FCF margin – 13.5% 20.2%
Operating cash flow margin 13.9% 17.5% 22.4%
Return on equity 59.5% 22.0% 26.8%
Return on assets 4.2% 9.3% 10.4%
Return on invested capital – 12.4% 15.9%
Return on capital employed – 13.1% 17.9%
Asset turnover 1.1x 0.9x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 3.5x 1.6x 1.1x
Stock comp / revenue 6.7% 3.5% 6.0%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricEXTRCIENCSCO
Debt / assets – 40.4% 22.8%
Debt / equity – 1.1x 0.6x
Net debt / EBITDA – 0.7x 0.8x
Debt / FCF – 4.0x 2.3x
Liabilities / assets – 61.8% 61.2%
Equity / assets 6.8% 38.2% 38.8%
Interest coverage – 10.6x 10.5x
Current ratio 1.0x 3.8x 0.9x
Quick ratio – 2.8x 0.6x
Cash ratio – 1.9x 0.4x
Altman Z-score – 7.46 4.16

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricEXTRCIENCSCO
Dividend yield – – 1.5%
Net buyback yield – -0.9% 1.3%
Shareholder yield – -0.9% 2.8%
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.

ConsensusEXTRCIENCSCO
Forward P/E 17.7xFY2027 47.8xFY2026 23.3xFY2027
EPS, next fiscal year $1.38FY2027 $7.60FY2026 $4.74FY2027
EPS growth, next FY +30.2%FY2027 +187.9%FY2026 +9.5%FY2027
EPS growth, the year after +2.9% +64.7% +20.7%
Revenue, next fiscal year $1.34BFY2027 $6.86BFY2026 $74.93BFY2027
Revenue growth, next FY +4.5%FY2027 +43.8%FY2026 +18.3%FY2027
Revenue growth, the year after +21.3% +18.0% +0.6%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersEXTRCIENCSCO
Held by institutions 96.7% 92.9% 80.1%
Institutions holding 338 1,220 4,046
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.2% -1.7% +5.0%
Institutions buying 181 729 1,847
Institutions selling 121 379 1,817
Buyers to sellers 1.50 1.92 1.02

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.

EXTRCIENCSCO
EXTR 1.00 0.31 0.51
CIEN 0.31 1.00 0.36
CSCO 0.51 0.36 1.00

Add a Peer

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, EXTR, CIEN and CSCO?

Cisco Systems (CSCO) is the largest by market capitalisation: Extreme Networks (EXTR) $3.21B, Ciena (CIEN) $51.55B, Cisco Systems (CSCO) $435.20B.

Which stock is cheaper, EXTR, CIEN and CSCO?

Cisco Systems (CSCO) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Extreme Networks (EXTR) 61.8x, Ciena (CIEN) 78.9x, Cisco Systems (CSCO) 32.9x). On next year's consensus earnings, Extreme Networks (EXTR) is cheapest (Extreme Networks (EXTR) 17.7x, Ciena (CIEN) 47.8x, Cisco Systems (CSCO) 23.3x). 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: Extreme Networks (EXTR) +11.3%, Ciena (CIEN) +32.6%, Cisco Systems (CSCO) +11.8%.

Which company is more profitable?

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

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Ciena (CIEN) returned the most: Extreme Networks (EXTR) +14.9%, Ciena (CIEN) +98.5%, Cisco Systems (CSCO) +51.9%. Over five years, Ciena (CIEN) compounded fastest (Extreme Networks (EXTR) +20.0%/yr, Ciena (CIEN) +46.3%/yr, Cisco Systems (CSCO) +14.5%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Cisco Systems (CSCO) 1.51%. Extreme Networks (EXTR) and Ciena (CIEN) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Cisco Systems (CSCO) has been the steadiest (Extreme Networks (EXTR) 55.6%, Ciena (CIEN) 77.9%, Cisco Systems (CSCO) 35.5%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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