Shares of Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) rose 2.6% in early trading Thursday following better-than-expected fourth quarter results, citing strength from cloud customers.
Revenue for the networking company rose 21% to $1.13 billion, which eclipsed the consensus of $1.1 billion. Meanwhile, adjusted EPS was $0.75, versus the consensus of $0.69 and up from $0.61 last year.
"Today we reported strong fiscal fourth quarter results, driven by positive demand dynamics, particularly with cloud provider customers. We delivered an outstanding fiscal year with 21% growth in revenue, gaining significant market share and further advancing our industry leadership position," said Gary Smith, president and CEO, Ciena. "Looking ahead, as we execute on our strategy to extend our market leadership in optical while expanding our opportunities in routing and switching, we expect to continue to grow revenue faster than the market and take share."
The company repurchased about 4.2 million shares in the quarter at an average price of $44.95 per share.