Shares of Ciena Corp. rallied 2.0% in premarket trading Thursday, after the networking systems company reported fiscal second-quarter profit and revenue that beat expectations, amid signs of improved customer spending. Net income rose to $103.1 million, or 66 cents a share, from $91.7 million, or 59 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding nonrecurring items, adjusted earnings per share fell to 62 cents from 76 cents but beat the FactSet consensus of 48 cents. Revenue declined 6.7% to $833.9 million, above the FactSet consensus of $829.2 million, as products sales fell 9.4% to $670.0 million while services sales increased 6.3% to $163.9 million. Chief Executive Gary Smith said “encouraging signs in the market environment,” including improvements in customer spending, gives him “strong visibility and confidence” in the company’s ability to achieve its financial targets this year. The stock has gained 3.0% year to date through Wednesday, while the S&P 500 has advanced 12.0%.
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