CEO of AI Data Center Beneficiary Network Sells Hundreds of Millions in Shares While Holding 200 Billion Won Stake

Ciena Corporation (CIEN) disclosed that on May 15 and June 1, CEO Gary B. Smith sold approximately 2,952 shares of the company’s common stock on each occasion under a pre-established Rule 10b5-1 trading plan, raising about $1.66 million to $1.67 million per transaction—roughly KRW 23 billion in total. After these sales, Smith’s direct holdings stand at around 270,000 shares. Including unvested restricted stock units (RSUs) and performance stock units (PSUs), his total stake remains valued at approximately $148 million to $165 million, or about KRW 200 billion.

At the same time, Ciena filed its Q2 FY 2026 earnings presentation, reporting record quarterly revenue of about $1.57 billion (KRW 2.2 trillion), a 40% year-over-year increase. The presentation noted that sales to cloud and hyperscale customers—including AI infrastructure—accounted for 46% of total revenue, highlighted improvements in margins and free cash flow, and provided an update on its $1 billion share repurchase program along with annual guidance. (Source: reddit.com)

In a May press release, Ciena previewed its Q2 results—scheduled for announcement before the U.S. market open on June 4—emphasizing new products such as data-center interconnect solutions that can reduce power consumption for AI workloads by up to 70%. (Source: financialcontent.com)

On Wall Street, analysts expect Ciena to deliver roughly $1.5 billion in Q2 revenue and earnings per share in the mid-$1.40 range, reaffirming its status as a leading optical-networking equipment stock amid the AI infrastructure build-out. (Source: investing.com)

Headquartered in Hanover, Maryland, Ciena is an optical networking systems and software company supplying high-speed connectivity equipment and services to global telecommunications carriers, cloud providers, and data-center operators. (Source: Wikipedia)

Gary B. Smith, who has led the company since the early 2000s, has recently made data-center interconnects and the expansion of cloud and hyperscale customer business his core strategy in response to surging AI traffic. (Source: Ciena FY 2026 Q1 Financial Results)