Optics Stocks Divide: Coherent and Cisco Drop After Earnings While Nokia and Ciena Soar

Quick Read

• Coherent and Cisco beat estimates yet sold off sharply after Coherent’s operating cash flow cratered 87% and Cisco’s gross margin compressed to 66%.

• Ciena jumped 6% and Nokia gained 3% as those same earnings calls confirmed explosive data center interconnect demand, lifting pure-play optical vendors instead.

• Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Cisco Systems didn’t make the cut. Grab the names FREE today.

The optics complex is splitting in two this morning. Coherent (NYSE:COHR) is trading down 4.94% and Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) is down 8.48% after both reported fiscal fourth-quarter results last night. Yet the pure-play optical vendors that sell into the exact same demand story are green. Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) is up 6.04% and Nokia (NYSE:NOK) is up 3.29%.

Margins and Cash Flow Are the Reason the Reporters Are Red

Both earnings were…