Ciena's stronger moat justifies its richer valuation versus Credo, and its recent guidance was good. x.comÂ
Kairos
Stock Research
MaxLinear's planned 1.6T AEC entry is too distant to justify the scale of Credo's selloff. Credo still has an estimated 90%+ AEC share and relationships with five of six major hyperscalers; MaxLinear expects initial revenue only in 2027 and a more meaningful ramp in 2028. Competition bears watching, but the market looks to be overreacting and Credo is starting to look ridiculously cheap. x.com x.comÂ
Credo's near-total share of AI data-center cables and unchanged estimates make its lower multiple look like a fear-driven opportunity. Its stock went from 27x to 20x forward earnings while the supply chain building those systems guided 2027 revenue to double. Buyers this week will probably be very happy a year from now. x.comÂ
Ciena looks dicey beyond the short term, in line with a Seeking Alpha article by Wail Shudar written shortly before its earnings plunge. A post the author replies to notes the stock is now technically in a much better place. x.com x.comÂ
Celestica's stronger hyperscaler switch and rack outlook points to more demand for Credo's AECs in the same buildout. Celestica beat its Q3 guide, raised FY26 and expects accelerating 2027 growth; that read-through suggests a strong Credo December print, a second-half FY27 inflection and likely a huge guide. x.comÂ
Credo's MicroVCSEL offers upside that does not appear priced in. Its copper and optics exposure, a SpaceX tailwind and fundamentals that look too good for its current valuation make it one of the tidiest AI infrastructure investments. x.comÂ
Ciena looks expensive against its earnings: it trades at about 30 times next year's estimated $10.68 a share, versus the 18 times the industry usually gets. That implies fair value of about $169-215, putting the stock 47% above the high end. The read leans on forecasts, since forward earnings are 226% above trailing, and is based on levels only, with no fundamental work. x.comÂ
Ciena solves inter-data-center bandwidth constraints, one of AI's bottlenecks alongside compute and power, and it trades at a more compelling price after the July selloff. Its $7.7B backlog, with about 80% converting to revenue within a year, is chunky. x.comÂ
Credo could be at an optimal entry point after falling more than 25% in a week despite a good earnings report the market seemingly disliked. It provides critical AI infrastructure connectivity that moves data very fast between clusters, and is projected to grow extremely quickly for the next few years. x.comÂ
Ciena looks stretched after rising eightfold in a year to 264x earnings, making it a short candidate around $425-447 once the move up exhausts itself. x.com x.comÂ
Ciena is 47% off its high after a valuation selloff despite strong hyperscaler-driven growth. Revenue grew 37% to $1.67B and adjusted EPS tripled. Backlog is $8.5B and expected to pass $10B by year-end, half of revenue now comes directly from hyperscalers, and data center revenue has quadrupled this year. Management's preliminary 2027 outlook of at least $8.3B implies another 30% growth, with supply tight until 2028. x.comÂ