Evercore ISI Group Upgrades Ciena to Outperform from In-Line
Fintel reports that on September 21, 2026, Evercore ISI Group upgraded their outlook for Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) (LSE:0HYA) from In-Line to Outperform. This rating action follows a prior action on February 19, 2026, when Evercore ISI Group maintained its In-Line rating on the stock.
Ciena Corporation, based in the United States, is a prominent player in the networking systems, services, and software industry. The company specializes in the design, implementation, and optimization of high-performance networks, with a product portfolio that includes the 6500 Packet-Optical Platform. Ciena also focuses on network automation and management software, leveraging advanced analytics and Artificial Intelligence. Ahead of the rating action, Ciena's stock closed at $348.80 on September 18, 2026. This latest close represents a price change of -0.21% over one week, compared to a baseline close of $349.54 on September 11, 2026. Over a one-month period, the stock experienced a price change of -13.99% from a baseline close of $405.54 on August 18, 2026.
Ciena reported its latest earnings on September 3, 2026. The company posted an actual EPS of 2.11, which exceeded the estimated EPS of 1.7641, representing a surprise of +19.61%. Actual revenue for the quarter was $1,671,129,000.00, compared to the estimated revenue of $1,665,708,021.00. Prior to the upgrade, as of September 15, 2026, the current consensus target mean for Ciena was $512.75, with a median target of $530.40, representing an implied change of +47.00%. This is down from the prior consensus target mean of $590.16 recorded on August 28, 2026, which reflects a consensus target revision of -13.12%.
In terms of overall analyst sentiment, the current recommendation period as of September 1, 2026, shows a total of 26 recommendations, consisting of 7 strong buy, 12 buy, 7 hold, 0 sell, and 0 strong sell ratings. This represents 73.1% positive recommendations and 26.9% hold recommendations. In the prior period as of August 1, 2026, there were 7 strong buy, 11 buy, 8 hold, 0 sell, and 0 strong sell ratings, representing 69.2% positive and 30.8% hold recommendations. Other recent analyst actions include Rosenblatt maintaining a Buy rating, Morgan Stanley maintaining an Equal-Weight rating, Needham reiterating a Buy rating, and Barclays maintaining an Overweight rating, all on September 17, 2026. Earlier in the month, on September 4, 2026, Morgan Stanley maintained its Equal-Weight rating and JP Morgan maintained its Overweight rating.
Recent analyst actions
| Date | Analyst | Prior | Latest recommendation | Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 21, 2026 | Evercore ISI Group | In-Line | Outperform | upgrade |
| September 17, 2026 | Rosenblatt | Buy | Buy | maintained |
| September 17, 2026 | Morgan Stanley | Equal-Weight | Equal-Weight | maintained |
| September 17, 2026 | Needham | Buy | Buy | reiterated |
| September 17, 2026 | Barclays | Overweight | Overweight | maintained |
| September 4, 2026 | Morgan Stanley | Equal-Weight | Equal-Weight | maintained |
| September 4, 2026 | JP Morgan | Overweight | Overweight | maintained |
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This story originally appeared on Fintel.