Shares of Ciena Corp. CIEN shot up 9.6% toward a 6 1/2-month high in premarket trading Monday, after the optical networking company reported fiscal first-quarter results that beat expectations by wide margins, amid strength in its networking platforms business. Net income for the quarter to Jan. 28 rose to $76.2 million, or 51 cents a share, from $45.8 million, or 29 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding nonrecurring items, adjusted earnings per share of 64 cents beat the FactSet consensus of 36 cents. Revenue grew 25.1% to $1.06 billion, above the FactSet consensus of $959.4 million. Networking platforms revenue increased 36.5% to $855.1 million, while global services revenue fell 9.0% to $112.6 million. “We delivered record revenue in the first quarter, reflecting continued gradual improvement in the supply chain environment and strong customer demand for our market-leading technology,” said Chief Executive Gary Smith. The stock has rallied 10.7% over the past three months through Friday, while the S&P 500 SPX has gained 2.7%.
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