Ciena Loss Matches Estimates

Ciena (CIEN Quote) shares rose Thursday as the company hit its target and guided up for the current quarter.

The Linthicum, Md. networking-equipment maker posted an adjusted loss of $28.3 million, or 5 cents a share, on $103.8 million in sales in the fiscal second quarter ended April 30. Those numbers compare with a 9-cent loss on $73.5 million in revenue in the year-ago quarter.

Looking ahead, the company says it expects top line results to grow 5% sequentially in the fiscal third quarter ending in June. Analysts had expected about 2% growth in sales during the fiscal third quarter compared with the second quarter, according to a tally by Reuters Research.

"In addition to our expectations of 5% sequential revenue growth in our fiscal third quarter, we also expect product mix and ongoing cost reduction efforts to drive meaningful gross margin improvement for the second half of our fiscal year," says CEO Gary Smith in a press release Thursday.

Ciena shares rose 17 cents to $2.62 in premarket trading Thursday.