PREPAID EXPENSES AND OTHER

9 Months Ended

Jul. 27, 2024

Deferred Costs, Capitalized, Prepaid, and Other Assets Disclosure [Abstract]

As of the dates indicated, prepaid expenses and other are comprised of the following (in thousands):


	July 27, 2024		October 28, 2023
Cash advances to contract manufacturers(1)	$	182,886	$	—
Contract assets for unbilled accounts receivable, net	142,769		150,312
Prepaid VAT and other taxes	112,997		96,724
Prepaid expenses	53,950		58,954
Product demonstration equipment, net(2)	43,854		40,682
Other non-trade receivables	42,482		33,408
Capitalized contract acquisition costs	18,033		23,326
Deferred deployment expense	1,805		1,170
Foreign currency forward contracts	1,232		1,118
	$	600,008	$	405,694

(1) Amount reflects refundable cash advances to a third-party contract manufacturer for potential future inventory purchases and transition and logistic costs for future asset relocation. Ciena has initiated a strategic reengineering and realignment of its supply chain, including changes to its systems, processes, partners and people, and this cash advance assists in facilitating such activities.

(2) Depreciation of product demonstration equipment was $6.1 million during the first nine months of fiscal 2024 and $5.9 million during the first nine months of fiscal 2023.

For further discussion on contract assets and capitalized contract acquisition costs, see Note 3 above.