Ciena Corp. (Nasdaq: CIEN) is in the latter stages of negotiating two large contracts with major competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs), according to Light Reading sources.

Rumors of the potential deals, as well as positive feedback from Ciena's financial analyst meeting, have boosted the shares of the optical networking company nearly 20 percent in the last two days.

One Wall Street source, speaking under condition of anonymity, said rumors of the deal were circulating at Ciena's financial analyst conference, held last week. A Ciena official confirmed that some large announcements were expected to be made in the coming week but responded with a "no comment" when asked about particulars.

On Monday Ciena stock rose $7.28 (5.69 percent) to close at $135.16, nearing all-time highs for the shares.

Last week brokerage firm S.G. Cowen issued comments on Ciena, saying that its fiscal fourth quarter, which ends October 31, was "tracking well," following the analyst meeting.

The potential deals, not yet signed, were described by sources as "large," in the $100 million dollar range. They involve Ciena's CoreDirector optical switch.

-- R. Scott Raynovich, executive editor, Light Reading http://www.lightreading.com