(By Balachander) Ciena Corp. (NASDAQ: CIEN) posted a wider-than-forecast quarterly loss and the provider of networking services issued its revenue outlook, and shares fell 1.93 percent in premarket on Thursday.
On a non-GAAP basis, net loss was $6.7 million or 7 cents a share for the fourth quarter, compared with earnings of $3.3 million or 3 cents a share in the year-ago quarter. Wall Street analysts, on average, expected CIEN to lose 6 cents a share.
On a GAAP basis, loss per share widened to 39 cents from 23 cents.
Revenue rose 2.2 percent to $465.5 million, versus consensus estimate of a growth of 2.80 percent. Sequentially, top-line witnessed a 1.9 percent drop. Revenue from the company's packet-optical transport products fell 2.3 percent on a year-over-year basis.
Adjusted gross margin shrank to 42.7 percent from 43.2 percent in the prior year quarter. In the third quarter, adjusted gross margin was 39.6 percent.
Looking ahead for the first quarter, CIEN sees revenue between $435 and $460 million, while analysts estimate of $458.6 million. It expects adjusted gross margin in the range of low 40s.
The company noted that it typically experiences seasonal reductions in order volume and customer deployment activity in the first quarter.
The stock, which has been trading in the 52-week range of $10.30 to $18.39, closed at $15.57 on Wednesday.