CEO of Telecom Equipment Company Benefiting from AI Infrastructure Maintains 2 Trillion Won Stake Despite Continuous Sales

Gary B. Smith, President and CEO of optical communications network equipment provider Ciena Corporation (CIEN), sold several thousand shares of the company’s common stock on May 15 and June 1 under a pre-established Rule 10b5-1 trading plan, securing approximately $1.6 million (about KRW 2 billion) in cash per transaction, according to regulatory filings. Even after these sales, Smith still holds roughly 270,000 shares—including unvested RSUs and PSUs—worth about $150–160 million (around KRW 2 trillion). The company said it achieved a record quarterly revenue of approximately $1.57 billion (roughly KRW 2 trillion) in the same period, driven by strong demand for AI data-center interconnects, alongside healthy profitability and cash flow.

On June 4, Ciena reported its fiscal 2026 second-quarter results, posting revenue of $1.57 billion and adjusted EPS of $1.64—year-over-year increases of about 40% and 290%, respectively. The company raised its third-quarter revenue guidance to around $1.625 billion and its full-year outlook to about $6.3 billion—equivalent to roughly KRW 8 trillion. In the same release, Ciena highlighted the strong performance of its high-speed optical transport and data-center interconnect products driven by AI demand, and reiterated progress on its $1 billion share repurchase program, emphasizing ongoing growth opportunities in high-speed connectivity and data-center edge networking. ()

Headquartered in Hanover, Maryland, Ciena is an S&P 500–listed optical networking and software company that supplies optical transport equipment and network software to telecommunications carriers and global cloud providers. () Gary B. Smith has led the company as CEO since 2001, guiding it through post-telecom-bubble restructuring and M&A, and more recently directing a growth strategy centered on high-speed optical transport and data-center interconnect solutions to meet surging AI-driven data traffic. ()