Wall Street is divided on networking stocks this week. The sharpest cut came at CIEN. B. Riley slashed its target from $516 to $413 — a $103 drop. That is a 20% reduction. The firm kept its Hold rating but flagged concern about near-term demand visibility.
Consensus followed, trimming its average target from $557 to $552. Ciena carries a $53 billion market cap with short interest at just 2.2% of free float.
Cybersecurity saw the opposite move. Scotiabank raised its target on PANW to $430, up from $320. That is a 34% increase. The bank maintained its Buy rating. Palo Alto Networks trades near $303 billion in market cap.
AKAM received a consensus upgrade. Analysts lifted their recommendation level while nudging the average target to $157. Short interest sits at nearly 14% of free float — among the highest in large-cap tech.
Two more positive calls rounded out the session. Goldman Sachs analyst Kash Rangan raised his WDAY target to $164 from $151, keeping a Hold. B of A's Wamsi Mohan lifted NTAP to $206 from $180, also at Hold.
The pattern is clear: analysts are selectively upgrading infrastructure and security plays while trimming optical networking exposure.
ORTEX Market Intelligence content is generated by AI from a snapshot of ORTEX's proprietary data. Content is informational only and does not constitute investment advice.
