Piper upgrades Ciena to Overweight despite 20% post-earnings rally

Piper Jaffray analyst Troy Jensen upgraded Ciena to Overweight from Neutral with a price target of $50, up from $46. The shares closed Thursday up 20% to $42.62. Ciena reported another strong quarter with October beating sales consensus estimates, Jensen tells investors in a research note. North America continues to drive the upside with five consecutive quarters of over 20% year-over-year growth, the analyst points out. He continues to believe Ciena has a "strong first mover status" in 800G platform and views the company as one of the best ways to play the accelerating service provider spending to support 5G wireless networks.