Viavi Soars 22% On Q3 Beat, Data Center Demand

NEW YORK, April 30 —

Viavi Solutions delivered the kind of fiscal Q3 print that gets a network-test stock noticed: a beat on the top and bottom lines, a Q4 sales guide of $427M–$437M, and an after-hours pop of roughly 22%. Data center and defense are now doing the heavy lifting. The catch is that insiders, including the CEO, took the money and ran two months ago — at prices that look like a discount today.

What Actually Happened

Viavi makes the boxes and software that telecom carriers, hyperscalers and defense contractors use to test networks. For most of the past decade it traded like a slow-cycle telecom supplier, which is to say, it traded sideways. The fiscal Q3 release changes the framing. Per coverage of the print, non-GAAP earnings and revenue both surged past consensus, shares soared premarket, and management's Q4 guide pointed to ongoing strength rather than a one-quarter pop.

The narrative now has a specific name attached to it: data center. TradingView's deep-dive on the quarter pinned outperformance on the data center and defense segments, with management citing continuing demand into Q4. That is the story bulls have wanted Viavi to grow into for years — a network-test vendor riding hyperscaler capex and defense electronics. Trailing-twelve-month revenue of $1.24bn growing 36.4%, with a 59.5% gross margin and $200M of free cash flow, says it is at least starting to.

The Insiders Saw a Different Movie

Now the awkward part. While the tape was still in the high-$20s, Viavi insiders were unloading. Across the prior 90 days, Form 4 filings show $13.71M in open-market sales and not a single purchase. The selling was concentrated in the first two weeks of February and led from the top.

CEO Oleg Khaykin sold 74,315 shares at $26.48 on February 4 for roughly $1.97M, then kept going: 70,000 shares at $24.50 on February 5, 40,679 shares at $26.25 on February 6, and 73,250 shares at $26.25 on February 9. SVP of Global Sales NSE Gary Staley sold 88,776 shares across six transactions between February 2 and February 5, totaling about $2.29M. Director Donald Colvin took $730,750 off the table at $29.23 on February 26, and Director Richard Belluzzo cleared roughly $769,000 across two days in mid-February.

Insider sales are noisy. They can reflect tax planning, divorce, a new pool. But a clean sweep — every name a seller, none a buyer, the CEO writing the biggest tickets — is a coordinated risk-off move, not random life events. And the prices matter. The full insider window cleared in the $24 to $35 range. The stock now trades around $45.53.

Why the Multiple Matters

Viavi trades at a forward P/E of 43.9x. That is a hyperscaler-adjacent multiple on a company whose growth is real but which has a long history of cyclical telecom revenue that disappointed when carrier capex rolled over. The earnings track record helps: Viavi has beaten consensus EPS in each of the prior three reported quarters ($0.13 vs $0.12, $0.15 vs $0.13, $0.22 vs $0.19). Q3 makes four in a row.

The sell side has not caught up to the rally. Yahoo Finance's analyst target price sits at $40.43 — below the current $45.53. That is not a damning fact on its own; targets lag prints. But it does mean the post-earnings buyer is paying above where the average analyst thinks the stock should sit, on a multiple that needs the data center story to keep compounding.

Connecting the Dots

Three patterns sit on top of each other. First, accelerating growth and improving margins. Second, an insider class that sold the stock in size right before the print that justified the re-rating. Third, a price now well above the analyst consensus target, on a 44x forward multiple. Each of those is a tolerable fact in isolation. Together they describe a setup where the easy money has likely already been paid out — to the people who knew the order book.

That does not mean the rally is wrong. Hyperscaler capex is not a head-fake, and defense electronics demand has its own momentum. It does mean the next leg has to come from numbers, not narrative. Q4 has to land in the $427M–$437M guide. Data center has to keep mixing up the revenue base. And ideally, somebody on the inside has to step up and buy.

What To Watch

The near-term catechism is short. First, Q4 results against the guide — anything less than the midpoint and the multiple compresses fast. Second, the next round of Form 4s. A CEO who sold $6M of stock in February and then files a buy in May is sending a very different signal than one who keeps selling into strength. Third, the analyst revision cycle: targets in the high $40s would validate the tape; sticky $40s targets while the stock holds $45-plus is a setup that resolves in one direction.

Basis Report's view is neutral. The Q3 beat and Q4 guide are clearly bullish, and the data center mix shift is a real fundamental story. But the combination of concentrated insider exits at half the current price and a stock trading above sell-side targets is the kind of asymmetry that argues for patience over chasing.

Run the free Viavi Solutions Inc. deep-dive →

Basis Report does not hold positions in securities discussed. This is not investment advice.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why did Viavi stock surge 22%?

Viavi posted a fiscal Q3 2026 beat on April 29 and guided Q4 sales to $427M–$437M, with data center and defense cited as the demand drivers. As detailed above, the after-hours move reflected both the print and the forward outlook.

What is Viavi's Q4 2026 revenue guidance?

Management guided fiscal Q4 sales to a range of $427M–$437M, per coverage of the earnings release. The data center and defense segments are flagged as the primary drivers.

Are Viavi insiders buying or selling?

Per Form 4 filings, insiders sold $13.71M of stock over the prior 90 days with $0 in open-market purchases. The selling pattern and price levels are analyzed in the article above.

Did the Viavi CEO sell stock before the Q3 earnings rally?

Yes. CEO Oleg Khaykin executed multiple open-market sales between February 4 and February 10 at prices between roughly $24 and $26, well below the post-earnings level near $45.53.

Is Viavi stock expensive after the Q3 beat?

VIAV trades at a forward P/E of 43.9x and sits above the Yahoo Finance analyst target of $40.43. The valuation context and what would have to keep working are covered in the analysis above.