Ciena vs Viasat
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The short version
- Ciena is the larger business, with $4.8B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $4.6B for Viasat.
- Ciena grew revenue faster (18.8%, against 2.7%).
- Ciena kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (4.1% operating margin, against 2.3%).
- Viasat turned more of its sales into free cash flow (32.2% FCF margin, against 14.0%).
- Ciena earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (5.1%, against 0.6%).
| Latest fiscal year | CIEN · FY25 | VSAT · FY26 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $46.8B | $8.4B |
| Revenue | $4.8B | $4.6B |
| Free cash flow | $665M | $1.5B |
| Net income | $123M | −$34.1M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 18.8% | 2.7% |
| 5-year growth | 6.2% | 19.3% |
| Share count change | −0.5% | 4.9% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 42.0% | — |
| Operating margin | 4.1% | 2.3% |
| Net margin | 2.6% | −0.7% |
| FCF margin | 14.0% | 32.2% |
| Return on capital | 5.1% | 0.6% |
| Return on equity | 4.5% | −0.7% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $271M | $4.8B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 0.8x | 3.3x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $335M | $0.0M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 71.5x | — |
| Piotroski F-score | 7 | 6 |
Revenue
FY17
CIEN $2.8B
VSAT $1.6B
FY18
CIEN $3.1B
VSAT $1.6B
FY19
CIEN $3.6B
VSAT $2.1B
FY20
CIEN $3.5B
VSAT $2.3B
FY21
CIEN $3.6B
VSAT $1.9B
FY22
CIEN $3.6B
VSAT $2.4B
FY23
CIEN $4.4B
VSAT $2.6B
FY24
CIEN $4.0B
VSAT $4.3B
FY25
CIEN $4.8B
VSAT $4.5B
FY26
CIEN —
VSAT $4.6B
CIEN
VSAT
Operating margin
FY17
CIEN 7.7%
VSAT 2.3%
FY18
CIEN 7.4%
VSAT −5.8%
FY19
CIEN 9.7%
VSAT −2.9%
FY20
CIEN 13.8%
VSAT 1.7%
FY21
CIEN 13.7%
VSAT −2.4%
FY22
CIEN 6.1%
VSAT −4.7%
FY23
CIEN 8.2%
VSAT −6.1%
FY24
CIEN 4.2%
VSAT −20.8%
FY25
CIEN 4.1%
VSAT −2.2%
FY26
CIEN —
VSAT 2.3%
CIEN
VSAT
Free cash flow
FY17
CIEN $140M
VSAT −$103M
FY18
CIEN $162M
VSAT −$153M
FY19
CIEN $351M
VSAT −$309M
FY20
CIEN $411M
VSAT −$257M
FY21
CIEN $462M
VSAT −$100M
FY22
CIEN −$259M
VSAT −$433M
FY23
CIEN $62.1M
VSAT −$709M
FY24
CIEN $378M
VSAT $611M
FY25
CIEN $665M
VSAT $830M
FY26
CIEN —
VSAT $1.5B
CIEN
VSAT
Return on capital
FY17
CIEN 23.7%
VSAT 1.4%
FY18
CIEN 6.9%
VSAT −2.8%
FY19
CIEN 15.8%
VSAT −1.6%
FY20
CIEN 20.0%
VSAT 1.1%
FY21
CIEN 23.7%
VSAT −1.0%
FY22
CIEN 7.7%
VSAT −2.0%
FY23
CIEN 9.3%
VSAT −2.5%
FY24
CIEN 3.6%
VSAT −9.0%
FY25
CIEN 5.1%
VSAT −0.7%
FY26
CIEN —
VSAT 0.6%
CIEN
VSAT
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.