Ciena's stock drops as profit miss offsets sales beat, new share buyback program

Shares of Ciena Corp. dropped 3.6% in premarket trade Thursday, after the networking technology company reported a fiscal fourth-quarter profit that missed expectation, although sales beat. Net income for the quarter to Oct. 31 rose to $1.16 billion, or $7.32 a share, from $36.6 million, or 25 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, such as a $1.13 billion tax benefit, adjusted earnings per share came to 46 cents, below the FactSet consensus of 50 cents. Revenue rose to $744.4 million from $716.2 million, above the FactSet consensus of $736.9 million, as networking platforms revenue of $598.9 million beat expectations of $592.5 million. Separately, the company announced a new $300 million stock repurchase program, which will be in place through fiscal 2020. The stock has lost 13.3% year to date through Wednesday, while the SPDR Technology Select Sector ETF has run up 30.1% and the S&P 500 has gained 17.4%.

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