Ciena CEO Gary Smith sells $1.07m in company stock

Gary B. Smith, President, CEO, and a Director at Ciena Corp (NASDAQ:CIEN), sold 2,952 shares of the company’s common stock on September 1, 2026. The transactions were executed at a weighted average price of $362.899 per share, with individual sales prices ranging from $356.6500 to $381.2975. The total value of the shares sold amounted to $1,071,277.

The sale was conducted pursuant to a Rule 10b5-1 trading plan, which was established on October 4, 2025. Following this transaction, Mr. Smith directly holds 243,078 shares of Ciena common stock. This figure includes unvested Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) and Performance Stock Units (PSUs).The insider sale comes as Ciena stock has declined 11% over the past week, though the company has delivered a remarkable 274% return over the past year. According to InvestingPro analysis, the stock currently appears overvalued relative to its Fair Value. Investors can access 16 additional InvestingPro Tips and comprehensive financial metrics for deeper analysis.

In other recent news, Ciena Corp. is preparing to release its fiscal third-quarter earnings report, with analysts making varied projections. Rosenblatt anticipates Ciena’s revenue to be approximately $1.70 billion, surpassing the consensus estimate of $1.63 billion and the company’s guidance midpoint of $1.625 billion. They also project adjusted earnings per share of $1.90, which is higher than the consensus estimate of $1.72. Needham has reiterated its Buy rating on Ciena, maintaining a price target of $600, citing strong demand in the Cloud and Telco segments. BofA Securities, however, has lowered its price target to $550 from $660, while still maintaining a Buy rating. Meanwhile, Northland has upgraded Ciena to Outperform from Market Perform, increasing its price target to $500, based on positive supplier results. These developments come as Ciena prepares to announce its earnings on September 3.