Pulling Away 2017 Annual Report Outperforming Peer Group for More than 5 Years Cienahasdelivereddifferentiatedgrowth&profitexpansion Normalized Revenue Normalized Adjusted Operating Margin 1.8 1.6 1.4 1.2 1.0 0.8 15 12 9 6 3 0 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 CIENA INDUSTRY AVERAGE *IndustryPeerAverage:Adtran,Adva,Cisco,Ericcson,Infinera,Juniper,andNokia’sIPNetworkssegment 2017representsCienafiscal2017actualsandmidpointofourQ1’18guidance,andindustrypeerconsensusestimatesasof28November2017 Consistent Execution = Sustained Growth & Profitability ($inmillions) $3,000,000 $2,500,000 $2,000,000 $1,500,000 $1,000,000 $500,000 $0 8% CAGR 9% CAGR 63% CAGR FY2011 FY2012 FY2013 FY2014 FY2015 FY2016 FY2017 REVENUE ADJ. GROSS PROFIT ADJ. OPERATING PROFIT A Letter from Gary B. Smith, President & CEO Wehaveadiverseportfolioacrosssystems,components, softwareandservices.Wesellintoabroadsetof geographiesandcustomerverticals,andacrossawide rangeofnetworkapplications.Asaresult,wehave consistentlyoutperformedtheindustryinbothrevenue growthandprofitabilitywhilestrengtheningourbalance sheet and generating cash. Wearepullingawayfromthecompetition.And,weare extremelywellpositionedtocontinuedrivingthepace ofinnovationandtodelivergreatervaluetoour customersandshareholders. Fiscal 2017 Performance Reflectingonfiscal2017,ourmomentumcanbe measuredacrossseveraldimensions—startingwiththe $2.8billionwegeneratedinrevenue,representing nearly8%top-lineannualgrowthinanindustrythat showedasmalldecline. Akeytothissuccesswasourpersistentfocusonthe diversificationofourbusiness.Thisincludesthecontinued extensionofourproductportfolioandtechnology applications,aswelltheexpansionofourcustomerset beyondtraditionalserviceproviders.Thispastyear thoseeffortswereevidentinseveralareas,including: Gary B. Smith, President and CEO In 2017, we celebrated the 25th anniversary of the founding of Ciena, marking a significant milestone in our history of growth and increasing profitability in the global networking industry. We have built our company to •Annualrevenuegrowthof20%inourdirectdata capitalize on next generation network demands, and I am enormously proud of our strategy and our execution as we have become a market leader in innovation, market share, and financial strength. center interconnectbusiness,ledbyourpurpose-built Waveserverplatform,whichexceededexpectations with70+customersand$110millioninannualrevenue •Annualrevenuegrowthofmorethan50%inourAsia Pacificregion,includinganeardoublingofrevenue fromIndia,wherewealsoachieved#1marketshare •Annualrevenuegrowthofnearly30%inourSoftware and Software-Related Servicessegment •Annualrevenuegrowthofapproximately25%inour Packet Networkingsegment CIENAANNUALREPORT20171 Continued execution of our strategy to diversify and scale our business Cienahasreachedanimportantinflection pointinourrecenttransformation FY2014 FY2017 Financial Performance Revenue $2.29B Adj.OperatingMargin 6.5% Net(Debt)/Cash* ($674M) $2.80B 11.9% $33M APAC ~ 8% total revenue ~ 18% total revenue Webscale** Subsea Diversification Softwareportfolio CienaNetwork ManagementSoftware India: $38M India:$230M+ ~15% total revenue ~25% total revenue Upgrademarketonly Upgrade& NewBuildmarket Virtualization, multi-vendornetwork management, domaincontroland orchestration Scale Customers Countries 1,000 60 1,300 80+ *Cash&cashequivalents **Direct,indirect,andapportionedsubsea Ourgreaterprofitabilityandstrengthenedbalance strategicdriversabove.Theseinclude global content sheetstandinstarkcontrasttomanyothersinour network providers, the submarine market, Asia industry.Bywayofexample,infiscal2017weachieved Pacificasaregion,andIndiaspecifically,allinaddition a20%year-over-yearincreaseinadjustednetincome tonewandexistingservice provider customers.These andmorethan20%year-over-yearincreaseinadjusted areasarealreadyoutstandingsuccessstoriesforCiena, EPS.Inaddition,wehadanotheryearofstrongfree andwebelievethattheyrepresentfurthergrowth cashflow,including$235millionincashgeneratedfrom prospectsgoingforward. operations.Weendedtheyearwithacashpositionof $970million,afterreducingourdebtbyapproximately $230millionduringfiscal2017. Positioned for Growth Takingfulladvantageofthismomentumandthecurrent Our Financial Future Aswemanageourbusinessforthelong-term,wewill pressdownourcompetitiveadvantageandadvance ourleadershippositioninthesekeygrowthareasto continuedeliveringacombinationoftop-linegrowth, industrydynamics,wearefocusedonaddressingmarket sharegainopportunitiesandaccessingnewandemerging profitabilityandcashgeneration.Ourlonger-term strategicplan,basedoncurrentassumptionsofoverall markets.Weintendtoleverageourmomentumand marketgrowthinthelowsingledigits,isdesigned focusoureffortsacrossspecificstrategicgrowthdrivers around that construct. ofourbusiness,including: Weareverypleasedwiththematurityandstrengthof •Ouroptical systems business,wherewearethe ourbusiness,whichallowsustoconfidentlysharewith onlyplayerwhocanaddressthecompleterangeof youourlonger-termgoalsandhowweplantomanage keyapplications. •Ourglobal network services business,wherewe’ve begunamulti-yeartransformationprocesstoimprove ourdeliverycapabilityandexpandouropportunity. thebusinessgoingforward.Wehaveaprovenstrategy forlong-termgrowththathasbeenreviewedwithour BoardofDirectorsandhastheirsupport.Asaresult,we haveestablishedseverallonger-termfinancialtargets thatwebelieveareachievable,andthatwewillbe •Ourpacket networking business,whereweare drivingthecompanytoachieve,inthenextfewyears. addingIPcapabilitiesthatwillenableustoplaya Theseinclude: strategicroleinourcustomers’networkdensification initiatives,suchas5GandFiberDeep. •Oursoftware and related services business,where wearefocusedonmigratingcustomerstoour BluePlanetnetworkdomaincontrollerplatformand •Faster-than-marketrevenuegrowthofapproximately 5-7%peryearoverthenextthreeyears •15%adjustedoperatingmarginonanannualizedbasis withinthreeyears drivingadoptionofourBluePlanetanalyticsand •Adjustedearningspershare(EPS)growthof orchestration technologies. approximately14-16%peryearoverthenext •And,finally,thecomponent space,wherewecontinue three years todrivebusinessdevelopmenteffortswithourpartners •Annualfreecashflowgenerationofapproximately tomakeourWaveLogicmodemtechnologyavailable 60-70%ofadjustedoperatingincomeovereachof toabroadersetofmarketsandcustomers. thenextthreeyears Weremainfocusedonincreasingourroleinand Also,wearenowinapositiontoincorporatethe contributionfromcertainimportantmarketverticals returnofcapitaltoshareholdersinourstrategicand andgeographiesthatintersectwithoneormoreofthe operationalplans.Inlate2017theBoardauthorizeda CIENAANNUALREPORT20173 Increased Operating Leverage g n i t a r e p O d e t s u d A d n a ) j % ( i n g r a M s s o r G d e t s u d A j ) e u n e v e R l a t o T f o % ( e s n e p x E 50.0% 45.0% 40.0% 35.0% 30.0% 25.0% 20.0% 15.0% 10.0% 5.0% 0.0% 42.8% 42.1% 37.2% 35.7% 6.5% 5.6% 42.6% 41.6% 40.9% 39.0% 1.0% 1.4% 44.7% 45.5% 45.1% 20.0% 33.8% 34.1% 10.9% 11.4% 33.2% 11.9% ) e u n e v e R l a t o T f o % ( i n g r a M g n i t a r e p O d e t s u d A j 18.0% 16.0% 14.0% 12.0% 10.0% 8.0% 6.0% 4.0% 2.0% 0.0% FY2011 FY2012 FY2013 FY2014 FY2015 FY2016 FY2017 ADJ. OPERATING EXPENSE ADJ. GROSS MARGIN ADJ. OPERATING MARGIN programtorepurchaseupto$300millionofthecompany’s Wehavealsoproventhatourmodelisdurable.While commonstockthroughtheendoffiscal2020.Thisisin ourindustrycanbechallenginganddynamic,our additiontoourpreviouslyannouncedintenttocash improvingbusinessandfinancialresultsdemonstrate settle$289millionofourconvertiblenotesinOctober ourabilitytoadapttochangingmarketconditionsand 2018.Theseactionscomplementavarietyofother developnewmarketswhiledeliveringconsistent improvements,includingareductionofourconvertible financialperformance. notebalancefrom$1.4billionto$540million,improvement ofournetdebtpositionfrom$712milliontoanactual netcashpositionof$33million,andasubstantial decreaseofourgrossdebt-to-EBITDAleverageratio from12xto2.8xoverthepastseveralyears.Taken together,theseactionsdemonstrateandreflectthe confidencewehaveinourlong-termgrowthstrategy andourstrongbalancesheetandcashflowgeneration. Our Business Transformed Throughacombinationofleadingtechnology,global scale,diversityofapplications,anddeepcustomer relationshipsbuiltoverthelast25years,wehave completelytransformedourbusiness.Asaresult,we Today,we’veneverfeltmoreconfidentaboutourfuture. Weintendtocontinueexpandingourinfluenceacross theindustry,andtobuildabigger,evenmoreresilient andmoreprofitablebusinessintheyearstocome. OnbehalfofmyselfandourBoardofDirectors,Iwould liketothankournearly6,000employeesandmorethan 1,300customersaroundtheworld,aswellasour growingshareholderbase,foryoursupport.Welook forwardtocontinuingtocreatelong-termvalueaswe executeontheexcitingnextphaseofCiena’sstrategy. haveanindisputablestrongmarketleadershipposition. Gary B. Smith, President and CEO 4ANNUALREPORT2017CIENA Corporate Information Corporate Headquarters Executive Officers Outside Board Members CienaCorporation 7035 Ridge Road Hanover,MD21076 Telephone:(800)921-1144 or (410) 694-5700 www.Ciena.com Virtual Annual Meeting Ciena’sannualmeetingofshareholders willbeheldat3:00PM(Eastern)on Tuesday,April3,2018.Pleasevisit www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/ ciena2018atleast10minutespriorto thestarttime. Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm PricewaterhouseCoopersLLP Outside Counsel HoganLovellsUSLLP Transfer Agent ComputershareTrustCompany,N.A. P.O.Box505000 Louisville,KY40233-5000 StockholderInquiries:(781)575-2879 www.Computershare.com Common Stock Market Data NYSE:CIEN Investor Relations Foradditionalcopiesofthisreportor otherfinancialinformation,contact: Investor Relations CienaCorporation 7035 Ridge Road Hanover,MD21076 Telephone:(877)243-6273 Additionalinformationisavailableon Ciena’swebsiteatinvestor.Ciena.com m o c e v . Patrick H. Nettles, Ph.D. Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors Harvey B. Cash Retired General Partner InterWest Partners Gary B. Smith President, Chief Executive Officer and Director Bruce L. Claflin Former Chairman AMD Corporation James E. Moylan, Jr. Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer Stephen B. Alexander Senior Vice President, Chief Technology Officer James Frodsham Senior Vice President, Chief Strategy Officer Rick L. Hamilton Senior Vice President, Global Software and Services Scott A. McFeely Senior Vice President, Networking Platforms Andrew Petrik Vice President and Controller Jason M. Phipps Senior Vice President, Global Sales and Marketing David M. Rothenstein Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary William D. Fathers Senior Operating Partner Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners and Senior Advisor Berkshire Partners Lawton W. Fitt Retired Partner Goldman Sachs Patrick T. Gallagher Chairman Harmonic, Inc. Judith M. O’Brien Partner King & Spalding LLP T. Michael Nevens Senior Adviser Permira Advisers, LLC Michael J. Rowny Chairman Rowny Capital i t a e r c c f . i w w w D M , a d s e h t e B , e v i t a e r C I C F : i n g s e D n o i t a r o p r o C a n e C 8 1 0 2 © i Notes to Investors TheAnnualReportcontainscertainforward-lookingstatementsregardingfutureeventsorresultsthatinvolverisksanduncertainties.These statementsarebasedoncurrentexpectations,forecasts,assumptionsandotherinformationavailabletoCienaasofthedatehereof.Forward-lookingstatements includeCiena’slong-termfinancialtargets,prospectivefinancialresults,returnofcapitalplans,businessstrategies,expectationsaboutitsaddressablemarkets andmarketshare,andbusinessoutlookforfutureperiods,aswellasstatementsregardingCiena’sexpectations,beliefs,intentionsorstrategiesregardingthe future.Often,thesecanbeidentifiedbyforward-lookingwordssuchas“target”“anticipate,”“believe,”“could,”“estimate,”“expect,”“intend,”“may,”“should,”“will,” and“would”orsimilarwords. Ciena’sactualresults,performanceoreventsmaydiffermateriallyfromtheseforward-lookingstatementsmadeorimpliedduetoanumberofrisksanduncer- taintiesrelatingtoCiena’sbusiness,includingtheeffectofbroadereconomicandmarketconditionsonourcustomersandtheirbusiness;changesinnetwork spendingornetworkstrategybylargecommunicationserviceproviders;seasonalityandthetimingandsizeofcustomerorders,includingourabilitytorecognize revenuerelatingtosuchsales;thelevelofcompetitivepressureweencounter;theproduct,customerandgeographicmixofsaleswithintheperiod;supplychain disruptionsandthelevelofsuccessrelatingtoeffortstooptimizeouroperations;changesinforeigncurrencyexchangeratesaffectingrevenueandoperating expense;andtheotherriskfactorsdisclosedinCiena’sAnnualReportonForm10-Kcontainedherein.Allinformation,statements,andprojectionsinthisAnnual ReportspeakonlyasofthedateoftheAnnualReport.Cienaassumesnoobligationtoreviseorupdateanyforward-lookinginformationincludedinthisAnnual Report,whetherasaresultofnewinformation,futureevents,orotherwise. Thisdocumentincludescertainadjustedornon-GAAPmeasuresofCiena’sresultsofoperations.Thesemeasuresarenotintendedtobeasubstituteforfinancial informationpresentedinaccordancewithGAAP.Adetailedreconciliationofthesenon-GAAPmeasurestoourGAAPresultsareincludedinthepressreleasefor therelevantperiodavailableonCiena.com. 7035 Ridge Road, Hanover, Maryland 21076 (410) 694-5700 (800) 921-1144 www.Ciena.com