Ciena (Nasdaq: CIEN) reported earnings on March 7. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended Jan. 31 (Q1), Ciena met expectations on revenue and missed expectations on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue dropped and GAAP loss per share dropped.

Gross margin dropped, operating margin grew, and net margin improved.

Revenue details
Ciena booked revenue of $416.7 million. The 11 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ expected net sales of $415.0 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 3.8% lower than the prior-year quarter's $433.3 million.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
Non-GAAP EPS came in at -$0.17. The 18 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted -$0.04 per share on the same basis. GAAP EPS were -$0.49 for Q1 against -$0.84 per share for the prior-year quarter.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin details
For the quarter, gross margin was 40.3%, 80 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was -7.0%, 270 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was -11.4%, 680 basis points better than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $449.6 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.05.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $1.85 billion. The average EPS estimate is $0.41.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a two-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 468 members out of 544 rating the stock outperform, and 76 members rating it underperform. Among 143 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 118 give Ciena a green thumbs-up, and 25 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Ciena is outperform, with an average price target of $16.63.

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