Jim Cramer Highlights Ciena's Return to the S&P 500

Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) is one of the S&P 500 stocks that Jim Cramer shared his take on. Cramer highlighted the company’s return to the broader market index. He said:

In fifth place, we’ve got Ciena, up 38.5% last month. Now, this is an old school networking play that’s seen its growth accelerate dramatically thanks to demand for fiber optic equipment from the data center. On top of that, last month, Ciena benefited from the news that they’d be returning to the S&P 500 after 17 years. They’re taking the spot, by the way, of Dayforce, going private.

Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) builds networking equipment, including optical systems, routers, and switches, and provides software to manage and automate networks. A caller inquired about the stock during the December 18, 2025, episode, and Cramer replied:

It has moved a great deal. That was an amazing quarter. I think there’s, it was so great. The next quarter is going to be great, too. I’m not going to fight you on it because… this Ciena is much better than the Ciena of 2000, when a lot of us lost money in the first three months of the year, if you remember that.

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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