Ciena Jumps as Evercore Upgrades CIEN to Outperform, Lifts Target to $550

Evercore ISI upgraded Ciena Corp. (CIEN) to Outperform from In Line on September 26, 2026, raising its price target to $550 from $375, citing surging demand for optical networking gear that connects AI data centers. Analyst Amit Daryanani projects annual sales growth above 30% and EPS growth above 35%, with earnings reaching at least $25 per share by fiscal 2029. BNP Paribas' Karl Ackerman also raised his target to $640, noting Ciena is implementing price increases in the high-single-digit to low-20% range and expects a margin lift from its Hyper-Rail RLS system ramping in calendar 2027. Ciena's latest quarter beat estimates, posting EPS of $2.11 on revenue of $1.67 billion, up 36.9% year over year, and the company raised full-year guidance to $6.42 billion. Wall Street's consensus rating is Strong Buy, with a mean target of $522.88.