A handful of “surely the good times can’t last” downgrades pressured Ciena’s (CIEN) share price in late September, but the stock has since come back on renewed confidence that those good times actually can last a bit longer, as Ciena continues to gain share in optical systems and gain traction with its new offerings. Moreover, if the software business really is on a better growth trajectory, it will answer some of the concerns about that business and offer another driver of growth over the next couple of years.
The set-up going into 2019 isn’t perfect. Obviously the markets are jittery. On a more company-specific basis, there’s still some risk of disruption from new product introductions from Acacia (ACIA) and Infinera (INFN), as well as risks from service provider budget priorities and a possible slowdown in datacenter growth. Those risks don’t really faze me on a mid-term basis, but could create some choppiness on a month-to-month or quarter-to-quarter basis. Ciena sits toward the low end of my upwardly-revised fair value range, and I’d consider prices in the low $30’s (or below) to be solid buying opportunities for a company with good ongoing leverage to both service provider and datacenter spending.
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