Earnings Call Intelligence Subscribe
Home › Call Sheets › VIAV › Q3'26
Call sheet · Q3'26

Viavi Solutions (VIAV)

Q3'26 earnings call · held April 29, 2026 · compared with the Q2'26 call · management-credibility review
3/12
Disclosure score
3 high, 4 medium, 1 low flags
Financial quality
Bottom line
The sleeper story is that VIAV's legacy fiber monitoring business has accidentally become an AI infrastructure play with data centers now driving 40-45% of field instrument sales, but the cash flow disaster despite record earnings suggests customers aren't paying. Yes, they beat and raised with 43% growth, but when your CFO burns $264M in cash during your best quarter ever while diluting shareholders by 16M shares, something is deeply wrong. The binding constraint isn't demand; it's working capital and cash collection, which explains why they're obscuring metrics and pivoting questions. Oleg admitted 'these data centers buying more equipment than regular service providers for the whole big network,' which should be bullish except hyperscalers are notorious for extending payment terms to vendors. My view changes if Q4 shows positive operating cash flow above $50M, proving this was truly just earnout timing.

The 30-second version

  • Field instruments unexpectedly morphing into a data center play with 40-45% of revenue now from hyperscalers
  • Beat and raise quarter driven by AI data center momentum, but cash flow turned negative despite record earnings
  • Spirent contribution mysteriously flat at $54M vs $43M last quarter despite having full 13 weeks vs 10 weeks

What changed this quarter

MetricQ2'26Q3'26Change
Total Revenue$369.3M (+36% YoY)$407M (+43% YoY)+700 bps YoY acceleration
EPS$0.22 (+$0.09 YoY)$0.27 (+$0.12 YoY)+$0.05 sequential beat
Operating Margin19.3% (+440 bps YoY)21% (+430 bps YoY)+170 bps sequential expansion
NSE Revenue$291.5M (+46% YoY)$321.5M (+54% YoY)+800 bps YoY acceleration
NSE Operating Margin15.6%17.2%+160 bps sequential
OSP Revenue$77.8M (+10% YoY)$85.3M (+11% YoY)+100 bps YoY acceleration
Operating Cash Flow$42.5M-$26.3MTurned negative $69M swing
Free Cash Flow$36.9M-$32.2MMassive $69M deterioration
Cash Balance$772.1M$508M$264M burn in one quarter
Share Count233.4M249.5M+16M shares added

Accountability tracked

7 new promises made4 narrative shifts flagged6 prior promises scored
Inside the full report
The complete write-up covers the full promise ledger with kept/missed calls, disclosure-quality scoring, the metrics-vanished check, verification items, and the questions to ask next quarter.
Subscribe to Earnings Call Intelligence
About Research ↗Call SheetsCredibility IndexMissed PromisesScreens13F BooksData & InstitutionalPrivacyTermsSubscribe
This is a free preview. The full write-up and promise ledger are published to subscribers on Substack.
Scores, kept-promise rates, and flags on this site reflect the author's opinion, applying a stated methodology to statements management made on public earnings calls. Informational and educational purposes only - not investment advice, a recommendation, or an offer to buy or sell any security. Sources believed reliable but not guaranteed; the author may hold positions in the securities discussed.

Follow what management promises next

Get free previews of our earnings-call research: the key changes, management scores, and questions worth investigating. Subscribe for full call sheets and deeper analysis.

Subscriptions are managed by Substack. If the form does not load, subscribe directly. Or follow the RSS feed.