Argus Upgrades Ciena (CIEN) Amid AI Networking Surge, Record $5B Backlog

Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) is one of the hot tech stocks to invest in. On December 12, Argus raised the firm’s price target on Ciena to $280 from $135 and maintained a Buy rating on the shares. Ciena is experiencing a surge in orders and expanding into new markets and customer bases as its AI networking opportunities rapidly grow following strong Q4 results. Although heavy investments in these initiatives are currently impacting margins, the firm anticipates that increasing volumes will offset this pressure in the near future.

On the same day, UBS analyst David Vogt raised the firm’s price target on Ciena to $230 from $120, while maintaining a Neutral rating on the shares. This sentiment was posted as the firm broadly updated its model following the company’s Q4 2025 earnings report.

Additionally, B. Riley nearly doubled its price target for Ciena, raising it to $222 from $113, while keeping a Neutral rating. This adjustment also followed a Q4 beat on both revenue and earnings, fueled by growth in Optical Networking and Cloud services. However, the firm still cautioned that current valuation multiples are significantly higher than historical averages and will likely eventually normalize.

Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) is a network technology company that provides hardware, software, and services for various network operators in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, Japan, and India.

While we acknowledge the potential of CIEN as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you’re looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.