Ciena (CIEN) Competitors

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) and F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV) are both large-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, earnings, media sentiment, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, community ranking, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Does the media refer more to CIEN or FFIV?

In the previous week, F5 had 11 more articles in the media than Ciena. MarketBeat recorded 21 mentions for F5 and 10 mentions for Ciena. F5's average media sentiment score of 1.04 beat Ciena's score of 0.63 indicating that F5 is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Ciena	5 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
F5	14 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is CIEN or FFIV more profitable?

F5 has a net margin of 20.58% compared to Ciena's net margin of 2.09%. F5's return on equity of 20.98% beat Ciena's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ciena	2.09%	4.72%	2.42%
F5	20.58%	20.98%	11.57%

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in CIEN or FFIV?

92.0% of Ciena shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 90.7% of F5 shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.9% of Ciena shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of F5 shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer CIEN or FFIV?

F5 received 52 more outperform votes than Ciena when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 76.38% of users gave Ciena an outperform vote while only 66.63% of users gave F5 an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Ciena	Outperform Votes 1242 76.38%	Underperform Votes 384 23.62%
F5	Outperform Votes 1294 66.63%	Underperform Votes 648 33.37%

Which has more volatility & risk, CIEN or FFIV?

Ciena has a beta of 0.88, indicating that its stock price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, F5 has a beta of 1.06, indicating that its stock price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts prefer CIEN or FFIV?

Ciena presently has a consensus price target of $78.77, suggesting a potential downside of 9.02%. F5 has a consensus price target of $295.00, suggesting a potential downside of 3.15%. Given F5's higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe F5 is more favorable than Ciena.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ciena	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.62
F5	1 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Which has higher valuation & earnings, CIEN or FFIV?

F5 has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Ciena. F5 is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Ciena, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ciena	$4.01B	3.07	$83.96M	$0.57	151.90
F5	$2.82B	6.24	$566.78M	$10.06	30.28

Summary

F5 beats Ciena on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.