AAPL
Apple Inc.
AAPL has slightly lower modeled downside risk, despite its lower overall score.
CIEN
Ciena Corporation
CIEN has the edge over AAPL overall, supported by stronger modeled upside and stronger fundamentals.
AAPL Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Strong | |
| Strong | |
| Strong |
AAPL's revenue, profitability, cash flow and balance sheet are all currently healthy.
CIEN Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Strong | |
| Strong | |
| Strong | |
| Healthy |
CIEN's revenue, profitability, cash flow and balance sheet are all currently healthy.
AAPL PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap | 26x | $230 | -35% |
| Fair | 31x | $279 | -21% |
| Expensive | 37x | $328 | -7.5% |
| Forward | 38x | $355 | — |
| Current | 40x | $355 | — |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
AAPL has the edge over CIEN in the historical PE scenario, which offers more potential upside but is not a forecast.
CIEN PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap | 21x | $94.56 | -68% |
| Forward | 24x | $294 | — |
| Fair | 32x | $142 | -52% |
| Current | 66x | $294 | — |
| Expensive | 133x | $595 | +103% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
CIEN's PE is in its expensive range at 66x. If earnings grow as analysts expect, today's price would be 24x next year's earnings, in its cheap range.
AAPL Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Stable | |
| Growth | |
| Growth | |
| Weakening | |
| Moderate | |
| Moderate |
Analysts expect earnings and revenue growth for AAPL, but weaker profitability.
CIEN Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly improving | |
| Strong growth | |
| Strong growth | |
| Strongly improving | |
| Moderate | |
| Low |
CIEN has the edge over AAPL on the outlook, with more favorable valuation and profitability expectations.
AAPL Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $9.28 | +3.3% |
| Q3 2026 | $8.98 | +20% |
| Q2 2026 | $8.71 | +32% |
| Q1 2026 | $8.26 | +29% |
| Q4 2025 | $7.90 | +25% |
| Q3 2025 | $7.46 | +23% |
| Q2 2025 | $6.59 | +0.2% |
| Q1 2025 | $6.42 | -0.3% |
| Q4 2024 | $6.30 | -2% |
AAPL earned $8.98 per share over the past year, up 20% from the year before.
CIEN Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $12.01 | +168% |
| Q3 2026 | $4.48 | +357% |
| Q2 2026 | $3.00 | +311% |
| Q1 2026 | $1.57 | +185% |
| Q4 2025 | $0.85 | +47% |
| Q3 2025 | $0.98 | +4.3% |
| Q2 2025 | $0.73 | -30% |
| Q1 2025 | $0.55 | -64% |
| Q4 2024 | $0.58 | -66% |
CIEN's earnings per share have jumped to their highest in seven years: $4.48 over the past year, up from $0.98 the year before.
AAPL Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $114.5B | +12% |
| Q2 2026 | $109.4B | +16% |
| Q1 2026 | $111.2B | +17% |
| Q4 2025 | $143.8B | +16% |
| Q3 2025 | $102.5B | +7.9% |
| Q2 2025 | $94B | +9.6% |
| Q1 2025 | $95.4B | +5.1% |
| Q4 2024 | $124.3B | +4% |
AAPL's revenue has grown year over year for 10 quarters in a row: $114B last quarter, up 12% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 31% | -0.5 points |
| Q2 2026 | 33% | +2.6 points |
| Q1 2026 | 32% | +1.3 points |
| Q4 2025 | 35% | +0.9 points |
| Q3 2025 | 32% | +0.5 points |
| Q2 2025 | 30% | +0.4 points |
| Q1 2025 | 31% | +0.3 points |
| Q4 2024 | 34% | +0.7 points |
AAPL has the edge over CIEN on profitability, with a higher operating margin.
CIEN Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $1.7B | +37% |
| Q2 2026 | $1.6B | +40% |
| Q1 2026 | $1.4B | +33% |
| Q4 2025 | $1.4B | +20% |
| Q3 2025 | $1.2B | +29% |
| Q2 2025 | $1.1B | +24% |
| Q1 2025 | $1.1B | +3.3% |
| Q4 2024 | $1.1B | -0.5% |
CIEN's revenue has grown year over year for seven quarters in a row: $1.7B last quarter, up 37% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 18% | +12 points |
| Q2 2026 | 15% | +12 points |
| Q1 2026 | 13% | +5.8 points |
| Q4 2025 | 0.8% | -4.5 points |
| Q3 2025 | 6% | +3.2 points |
| Q2 2025 | 2.9% | +3.4 points |
| Q1 2025 | 7.5% | -0.6 points |
| Q4 2024 | 5.3% | -2.8 points |
CIEN's operating margin was 18% last quarter, up 12 points from the same quarter a year ago, near the top of its range since 2019.
AAPL Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $25.9B | -2.4% |
| Q2 2026 | $31.9B | +31% |
| Q1 2026 | $26.7B | +28% |
| Q4 2025 | $51.6B | +91% |
| Q3 2025 | $26.5B | +11% |
| Q2 2025 | $24.4B | -8.6% |
| Q1 2025 | $20.9B | +0.9% |
| Q4 2024 | $27B | -28% |
AAPL's free cash flow has been positive every quarter for seven years: $136B over the past year, up 38% from the year before.
CIEN Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $116.3M | -14% |
| Q2 2026 | $218.7M | +71% |
| Q1 2026 | $153.8M | +100% |
| Q4 2025 | $325.6M | +23% |
| Q3 2025 | $134.6M | +$313.6M |
| Q2 2025 | $128.2M | +208% |
| Q1 2025 | $76.8M | -69% |
| Q4 2024 | $265.8M | +54% |
CIEN has the edge over AAPL on cash flow, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
AAPL Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | 0% | +5.6M shares |
| 1 year | -1.9% | -284M shares |
| 3 years | -6.9% | -1.1B shares |
| 5 years | -13% | -2.1B shares |
| Available history | -17% | -3.1B shares |
AAPL has the edge over CIEN on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $24.3B |
| Q2 2026 | $25.1B |
| Q1 2026 | $12.3B |
| Q4 2025 | $24.7B |
| Q3 2025 | $20.1B |
| Q2 2025 | $21.1B |
| Q1 2025 | $25.9B |
| Q4 2024 | $23.6B |
AAPL spent $86.4B buying back its own shares over the past year, down 4.8% from the year before.
CIEN Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | -0.2% | -347K shares |
| 1 year | +1% | +1.5M shares |
| 3 years | -2.7% | -4M shares |
| 5 years | -6.9% | -10.8M shares |
| Available history | -7.4% | -11.6M shares |
CIEN has 146M diluted shares, up 1% from a year ago.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $173M |
| Q2 2026 | $84.4M |
| Q1 2026 | $80.5M |
| Q4 2025 | $84.5M |
| Q3 2025 | $81.8M |
| Q2 2025 | $87M |
| Q1 2025 | $81.2M |
| Q4 2024 | $128.7M |
CIEN spent $422M buying back its own shares over the past year, up 12% from the year before.
AAPL Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 0.3x | Very low |
| Q2 2026 | 0.3x | Very low |
| Q1 2026 | 0.2x | Very low |
| Q4 2025 | 0.3x | Very low |
| Q3 2025 | 0.4x | Very low |
| Q2 2025 | 0.5x | Very low |
| Q1 2025 | 0.5x | Very low |
| Q4 2024 | 0.5x | Very low |
AAPL has the edge over CIEN on leverage, with a lower net debt burden relative to earnings.
CIEN Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 0.9x | Very low |
| Q2 2026 | 0.7x | Very low |
| Q1 2026 | 0.9x | Very low |
| Q4 2025 | 1.4x | Healthy |
| Q3 2025 | 1.3x | Healthy |
| Q2 2025 | 1.8x | Healthy |
| Q1 2025 | 2.3x | Moderate |
| Q4 2024 | 2.1x | Moderate |
CIEN's net debt is less than a year of its operating earnings (EBITDA), down from 1.3 years a year ago.
AAPL Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 68.1 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 85.0 | Overbought |
AAPL's weekly RSI is 68 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 85 (overbought).
CIEN Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 42.5 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 14.1 | Oversold |
CIEN's weekly RSI is 43 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 14 (oversold).
AAPL PE vs Technology Sector
| Metric | AAPL | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 40x | 28x | 42% above |
| PE % | 96 | 35 | 61 pts above |
AAPL has the edge over CIEN on valuation relative to its sector.
CIEN PE vs Technology Sector
| Metric | CIEN | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 66x | 28x | 136% above |
| PE % | 70 | 35 | 35 pts above |
CIEN is trading at 66x earnings, a 136% premium to the Technology sector's median of 28x.
AAPL Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $343.1 | 3.4% above |
| 20 week MA | $329.0 | 7.9% above |
| 50 week MA | $295.6 | 20% above |
| 100 week MA | $262.4 | 35% above |
| 200 week MA | $226.3 | 57% above |
AAPL has the edge over CIEN on trend strength, trading above more of its moving averages.
CIEN Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $338.6 | 13% below |
| 20 week MA | $368.5 | 20% below |
| 50 week MA | $375.1 | 22% below |
| 100 week MA | $238.4 | 23% above |
| 200 week MA | $144.4 | 104% above |
CIEN has pulled back, but its long-term trend is still up: it's below its 8-, 20- and 50-week averages, but 104% above its 200-week average.
AAPL Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $72.5 | $132.0 | +82% |
| 2021 | $132.0 | $176.3 | +34% |
| 2022 | $176.3 | $131.9 | -25% |
| 2023 | $131.9 | $192.5 | +46% |
| 2024 | $192.5 | $255.6 | +33% |
| 2025 | $255.6 | $273.4 | +7% |
| 2026 YTD | $273.4 | $354.9 | +30% |
AAPL has the edge over CIEN on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.
CIEN Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $42.7 | $53.3 | +25% |
| 2021 | $53.3 | $76.0 | +43% |
| 2022 | $76.0 | $49.3 | -35% |
| 2023 | $49.3 | $45.0 | -8.8% |
| 2024 | $45.0 | $86.7 | +93% |
| 2025 | $86.7 | $241.7 | +179% |
| 2026 YTD | $241.7 | $294.0 | +22% |
CIEN has finished higher in four of the last six years, two of them by more than 50%. It's up 22% so far in 2026.