Ciena vs F5
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The short version
- Ciena is the larger business, with $4.8B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $3.1B for F5, about 1.5 times as much.
- Ciena grew revenue faster (18.8%, against 9.7%).
- F5 kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (24.8% operating margin, against 4.1%).
- F5 turned more of its sales into free cash flow (29.4% FCF margin, against 14.0%).
- F5 earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (30.5%, against 5.1%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Ciena’s earnings: a P/E of 71.5x against 36.3x for F5.
| Latest fiscal year | CIEN · FY25 | FFIV · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $46.8B | $26.2B |
| Revenue | $4.8B | $3.1B |
| Free cash flow | $665M | $906M |
| Net income | $123M | $692M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 18.8% | 9.7% |
| 5-year growth | 6.2% | 5.6% |
| Share count change | −0.5% | −1.1% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 42.0% | 81.4% |
| Operating margin | 4.1% | 24.8% |
| Net margin | 2.6% | 22.4% |
| FCF margin | 14.0% | 29.4% |
| Return on capital | 5.1% | 30.5% |
| Return on equity | 4.5% | 20.6% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $271M | −$1.3B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 0.8x | −1.6x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $335M | $502M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 71.5x | 36.3x |
| Piotroski F-score | 7 | 8 |
Revenue
FY16
CIEN $2.6B
FFIV $2.0B
FY17
CIEN $2.8B
FFIV $2.1B
FY18
CIEN $3.1B
FFIV $2.2B
FY19
CIEN $3.6B
FFIV $2.2B
FY20
CIEN $3.5B
FFIV $2.4B
FY21
CIEN $3.6B
FFIV $2.6B
FY22
CIEN $3.6B
FFIV $2.7B
FY23
CIEN $4.4B
FFIV $2.8B
FY24
CIEN $4.0B
FFIV $2.8B
FY25
CIEN $4.8B
FFIV $3.1B
CIEN
FFIV
Operating margin
FY16
CIEN 6.0%
FFIV 27.4%
FY17
CIEN 7.7%
FFIV 27.0%
FY18
CIEN 7.4%
FFIV 27.3%
FY19
CIEN 9.7%
FFIV 23.1%
FY20
CIEN 13.8%
FFIV 16.7%
FY21
CIEN 13.7%
FFIV 15.1%
FY22
CIEN 6.1%
FFIV 15.0%
FY23
CIEN 8.2%
FFIV 16.8%
FY24
CIEN 4.2%
FFIV 23.4%
FY25
CIEN 4.1%
FFIV 24.8%
CIEN
FFIV
Free cash flow
FY16
CIEN $182M
FFIV $648M
FY17
CIEN $140M
FFIV $702M
FY18
CIEN $162M
FFIV $708M
FY19
CIEN $351M
FFIV $644M
FY20
CIEN $411M
FFIV $601M
FY21
CIEN $462M
FFIV $615M
FY22
CIEN −$259M
FFIV $409M
FY23
CIEN $62.1M
FFIV $599M
FY24
CIEN $378M
FFIV $762M
FY25
CIEN $665M
FFIV $906M
CIEN
FFIV
Return on capital
FY16
CIEN 22.4%
FFIV —
FY17
CIEN 23.7%
FFIV —
FY18
CIEN 6.9%
FFIV —
FY19
CIEN 15.8%
FFIV —
FY20
CIEN 20.0%
FFIV 27.7%
FY21
CIEN 23.7%
FFIV 20.9%
FY22
CIEN 7.7%
FFIV 18.0%
FY23
CIEN 9.3%
FFIV 19.5%
FY24
CIEN 3.6%
FFIV 26.5%
FY25
CIEN 5.1%
FFIV 30.5%
CIEN
FFIV
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.