Ciena upgraded to Buy from Sell at Citi

Citi double upgraded Ciena (CIEN) to Buy from Sell with a price target of $68, up from $44. The company’s “extended overhang” from excess inventory and weak demand in cable is gradually lifting and will yield a return to mid- to high-single digit growth in fiscal 2025, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm says that while opportunities for Ciena to benefit directly from artificial intelligence are likely further out relative to Citi’s top two networking equipment picks, Arista Networks (ANET) and Coherent (COHR), investor rotation into the networking equipment group out of semis and hardware in the next six months and “healthy” cloud demand will be supportive of the company’s fiscal 2025 growth.