As It Digests Nortel’s MEN, Ciena Reports Its Fiscal Q2

Equipment maker Ciena (NASDAQ:CIEN, news, filings) reported earnings this morning, including about 42 days worth of revenue from Nortel’s former Metro Ethernet Networks division following the closure of the deal in March.  Revenues were $253.5M, of which $53.5M were derived from the acquisition.  Honestly I had no idea where to peg revenue for the quarter, and I doubt I was alone.  In fact, the 13 analysts listed in Yahoo Finance projected revenues spanning a rather impressive range of $228-293M, which is a pretty good indication that there was a lot of guessing going on.

Loss per share, however, was just $0.13, not including special items, which came in measurably below the expectations of nearly everyone, and therefore the stock is having a pretty good morning..  Fiscal Q3 projections are for revenue of $375-400M, which is pretty much inline with expectations, with adjusted gross margins in the low 40s.

Key however is just how that integration work is going.  There were some $39.2 million in acquisition and integration-related expenses, as well as $1.9 million in restructuring costs thus far.  As for the work itself, CEO Gary Smith says it is ‘going well’, but at this stage I wouldn’t expect him to say anything different no matter what’s happening whether good or bad.  Nevertheless, the further along they get without the troubles the market was fearing over the winter, the less likely it is they will run into them.

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Categories: Financials · Telecom Equipment