CIEN vs ARES Comparison

Ciena is a telecommunications equipment provider focused on optical transport technologies, with clients in a number of industries such as communication services providers, web-scale providers, cable operators, government, and large enterprises worldwide. The company provides equipment, software, and services that support transport, switching, aggregation, service delivery, and data traffic management.

Ares Management is one of the world's largest alternative-asset managers, with $595.7 billion in total assets under management, or AUM, including $367.6 billion in fee-earning AUM, at the end of September 2025. The company has four main business segments: private credit ($391.5 billion in total AUM and $240.2 billion in fee-earning AUM), private equity, ($25.1 billion/$11.8 billion), real estate/real assets ($132.4 billion/$80.5 billion), and other alternatives ($46.7 billion/$35.1 billion). The firm primarily serves institutional investors (80% of AUM) and high-net-worth individuals (20%). Ares operates through more than 35 offices in over 15 countries around the globe.