What happened
Shares of network strategy and technology company Ciena (CIEN +7.09%) jumped on Thursday, rising as much as 13.8%. As of 10:53 a.m. EST, the stock was up 10.7%.
The stock's sharp gain follows the company's fiscal fourth-quarter earnings report. The quarter featured revenue and non-GAAP earnings per share that were above analysts' average forecasts for the two metrics.
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So what
Ciena's fourth-quarter revenue increased 20.8% year over year to $899.4 million. Non-GAAP earnings per share rose from $0.32 in the year-ago quarter to $0.53. On average, analysts were expecting revenue of $862 million and and non-GAAP earnings per share of $0.48, according to data from Yahoo! Finance.
"We achieved outstanding financial results in our fourth quarter and fiscal 2018 due to continued execution of our proven strategy," said Ciena CEO Gary Smith in the company's fourth-quarter earnings release.
The results put total revenue for fiscal 2018 at $3.09 billion, up from $2.8 billion in fiscal 2017.
Now what
In the company's fiscal fourth-quarter earnings release, Smith was optimistic about the company's prospects.
The combination of our innovation strength, successful interception of market trends and sustained ability to take share and outperform the market, along with a thriving industry environment, gives us tremendous confidence in both the near and longer term outlook for our business.
After repurchasing $111 million worth of stock during fiscal 2018, management also announced it has authorized up to $500 million more for share buybacks. The repurchase authorization replaces its previous repurchase plan.
