COMPARE · Data as of August 21, 2026
BDC vs CIEN
Verdict: Side-by-side breakdown using the Bull Rankings model. BDC scored 66.3, CIEN scored 59.0 — BDC leads.
Compare another set
BDC
Belden Inc
66.3
$122.46 · $4.8B
fundamentals as of
Score gap
7.3
BDC leads
CIEN
Ciena Corporation
59
$395.79 · $56.0B
fundamentals as of
At a glance · who leads each dimension, on the model's own rules
- CheapestBDC19.9x
- Fastest growthCIEN+30.6%
- Strongest balance sheetCIEN0.55
- Highest qualityBDC64 / 100
Side by side · every name on one set of axes
Growth against the P/E multiple. Up and to the right is cheaper and faster — the quality-growth idea in one picture. Points beyond the axis are pinned to the edge and marked off-scale rather than allowed to compress everything else.
The model, pillar by pillar (0–100 each)
BDC
stronger →← stronger
CIEN
64
Qualityreturns · margins · balance sheet
62
77
Growthrevenue & earnings expansion
80
59
Valuevaluation vs sector peers
42
BDC is stronger on 2 of 3 pillars.
Fundamentals, head-to-head
BDC
CIEN
$212mC
FCF
$833mC+
+9.4%B
Rev
+30.6%A
0.97C
D/E
0.55C+
19.9xB+
P/E
131.5xD
1.05B+
PEG
0.69A-
Winner per row is the stronger grade; where grades tie, the better figure breaks it. A true tie or a missing value shows no highlight.
Valuation · DCF cross-check
BDC
CIEN
25% above
Price vs fair valuelower is cheaper
260% above
~16%/yr
Growth the price implies10-yr FCF · lower = less priced in
~51%/yr
-32%
1-yr DCF upside
-79%
-20%
5-yr DCF upside
-72%
+2%
10-yr DCF upside
-59%
The DCF is a cross-check on intrinsic value, separate from the quality-growth score above.
The companies
BDCBelden Inc
Why now
Communication Equipment · market cap $4.8b. Down 23% from 52-week high of $159.99 — deep drawdown territory. 4 sell-side analysts rate this a Strong Buy with a mean 1-yr target of $156.50 (implying +28% upside).
Moat
ROE 18% sits above Buffett's preferred 15% threshold — the equity base is compounding at a rate the market struggles to discount accurately.
Risk
Mature compounder — the risk is paying up for quality at a moment when growth is decelerating. Watch for sequential revenue + margin trends; the inflection from "compounder" to "ex-compounder" is hard to spot until the multiple already started compressing.
CIENCiena Corporation
Why now
Communication Equipment · market cap $56.0b. Down 38% from 52-week high of $637.51 — deep drawdown territory. Revenue growing +31% — in hypergrowth territory. PEG 0.69 — paying under fair value for the growth rate. 19 sell-side analysts rate this a Buy with a mean 1-yr target of $557.29 (implying +41% upside).
Moat
ROE 15% sits above Buffett's preferred 15% threshold — the equity base is compounding at a rate the market struggles to discount accurately. FCF converts 190% of net income — earnings translate cleanly into cash, a sign that working capital and capex are well-disciplined. $56.0b market cap gives the company enough scale to absorb fixed costs that subscale competitors can't, without yet being so large that growth has to come from acquisition.
Risk
Trailing P/E 131.5x prices in sustained high growth — any quarter that disappoints triggers sharp re-rating. Down 38% from the 52-week high — the market is pricing in something the screen can't see; verify the bear case before sizing up. P/S 10.1x embeds aggressive forward growth — disappointing top-line guidance would compress the multiple hard.
Verdict — model-derived comparison
BDC leads CIEN by 6.7 points (66.0 to 59.3), its sharpest advantage coming in P/E (grade B+). A contrarian could still prefer CIEN for its stronger Rev (grade A).
Our AI analyst is busy right now, so this verdict is drawn directly from the pillars, grades and DCF above.
Not investment advice. The Bull Rankings publishes a quantitative ranking model and accompanying analysis for general informational purposes only. Nothing on this page is a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security; nothing is personalized to your circumstances, risk tolerance, or tax situation. Investing carries the risk of loss — invest at your own risk and consider consulting a licensed financial professional before acting on anything you read here. See terms and methodology for full disclosures.
Where BDC and CIEN diverge
On the headline score the gap is 7.3 points in favor of BDC. The widest single difference is Value, where BDC leads by 17.2 points.
- ValueBDC 58.8 · CIEN 41.6BDC +17.2
- QualityBDC 64.4 · CIEN 62.0level
- GrowthBDC 77.1 · CIEN 79.5level
Pillars run 0–100 against sector peers, so a score is a statement about a company relative to its own industry rather than to the other name here. A wide Value gap usually means the market already prices the difference in quality or growth — which is the trade-off this comparison comes down to.