Ciena Corp vs UBIQUITI INC., two Communication Equipment stocks. A side-by-side on valuation, growth, margins, returns, and what each price is betting.
The margin gap says these companies do different jobs with similar parts: Ubiquiti keeps 36.9% of revenue as operating profit selling prosumer networking gear through a famously lean model, while Ciena keeps 15.1% selling carrier-grade optical systems. Ubiquiti's 78.4% return on equity comes with no debt at all, making it one of the rare cases where the eye-catching ratio is mostly real, backed by a 54.9% return on assets. The multiples run backwards from the economics: 33.9 times for Ubiquiti's demonstrated machine, 159.9 times for Ciena's compressed earnings and AI interconnect optionality. A 2.3% free-cash yield against 1.2% rounds out the same sentence. The market is paying five times more per current dollar for the company earning half the margin; the future is doing all of that work.
Comparison updated 2026-07-10.
| Metric | CIEN | UI |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $479.66 | $526.55 |
| Market cap | $70.2B | $31.9B |
| Sector | Communication Equipment | Communication Equipment |
| Stage | Growth | Growth |
| Implied growth (priced in) | — | +40.3% |
| P/E | 159.9 | 33.9 |
| P/B | 24.27 | 26.53 |
| P/S | 12.60 | 10.30 |
| EV/EBITDA | 130.0 | 28.4 |
| Revenue growth | +30.6% | +34.4% |
| Gross margin | 44.0% | 47.0% |
| Operating margin | 15.1% | 36.9% |
| Net margin | 7.9% | 30.4% |
| Return on equity | 15.2% | 78.4% |
| Return on assets | 7.3% | 54.9% |
| Return on invested capital | 10.9% | 74.2% |
| FCF yield | 1.2% | 2.3% |
| Dividend yield | — | 0.5% |
| Debt / equity | 0.53 | 0.00 |
| Current ratio | 2.73 | 3.56 |
| Altman Z (solvency) | 6.85 | 10.00 |
| Piotroski F (quality) | 7 / 9 | 5 / 9 |
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The stronger value is highlighted per metric where one is strictly better on that single number; it is not an overall verdict on either company. For informational and research purposes only. Not investment advice. Not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security. boothcheck is not a registered investment adviser. Past performance does not guarantee future results.