CIEN and COHR benefit from AI-driven optical networking demand, but differing growth prospects, capacity challenges and valuations give one an edge.

The best-performing stocks typically have robust sales growth, increasing margins, and rising returns on capital, and those that can maintain this trifecta year in and year out often become the legends of the investing world.

The market spent Tuesday worrying that AI demand will fade. Both companies had just reported the opposite.

Record revenue and margin expansion driven by AI data center optical connectivity demand.

Coherent’s second quarter results for 2026 surpassed Wall Street’s revenue and profit expectations, yet the market responded negatively. Management identified exceptional demand in the data center and communications segments, with CEO James Anderson attributing the growth to a surge in AI-driven optical networking and ongoing production capacity expansion, particularly in their 6-inch Indium Phosphide lines. CFO Sherri Luther emphasized improved cost structure and greater operating leverage as a

The billionaire's family office sold five chip and photonics stocks in a single quarter -- and made two of its biggest bets on the companies writing the checks for AI instead of chasing them.

Earlier this week, reports that prices of indium phosphide substrates used in AI lasers may rise further amid supply tightness put fresh attention on AXT, which recently expanded its InP capacity and secured new supply agreements with Lumentum Holdings and Coherent Corp. The news highlights how AXT’s position in a constrained indium phosphide market could become increasingly important as AI-related demand strains global substrate supply chains. Now we’ll explore how tightening indium...

Three AI infrastructure stocks just shed billions in market cap in a single session, and the reason has less to do with their earnings than with a mounting anxiety about what the biggest names in tech have been quietly hiding from investors.

Nvidia's latest 13F filings have revealed a massive stake in SpaceX; here's which has greater upside potential.

AI hardware stocks are bleeding out hours before Cerebras' most anticipated product reveal yet, and the reasons go well beyond one company's event.

A record-breaking quarter from Fabrinet sent its stock tumbling 20% and dragged the entire AI optical complex down with it, raising a question now rippling through Marvell, Coherent, and Amphenol shareholders: is this a one-day shakeout or a crack in the AI buildout thesis?

Chip stocks tumbled Tuesday in a broad reversal from Monday's solid gains, leaving investors with whiplash.

Stocks were in the red as investors fretted over heavy fiscal spending and inflation.

All 30 stocks in the PHLX Semiconductor index are down in recent trading, helping drag the Nasdaq composite lower. Here are some of the biggest decliners: Coherent, down 11.4% Credo Technology, down 11.

LITE's 11.4X P/S signals a premium valuation, but AI-driven optics growth, rising margins and stronger FY27 estimates may support the case.

COHR's record FY26 results and strong FY27 outlook face a tougher test as surging capex, rising inventory and capacity constraints raise execution risks.

NVIDIA's first public 13F filing surprised Wall Street with a portfolio that reads less like passive investing and more like a strategic blueprint for controlling the entire AI supply chain. Five of its holdings reveal exactly where Jensen Huang thinks the real money flows after the GPU.

Optics are emerging as the next AI infrastructure bottleneck. These three ETFs offer diversified exposure to the photonics boom.

Tradr ETFs, a provider of ETFs designed for sophisticated investors and professional traders, today launched four first-to-market single-stock leveraged ETFs listed on Cboe. AXTQ complements the Tradr 2X Long AXTI Daily ETF (Cboe: AXTX), which seeks 200% of the daily performance of AXTI.

Chip stocks spent just 21 days in bear market territory. But that’s where the good news ends on Tuesday.

Investors are ditching chip makers and other AI stocks that had helped keep the market afloat on Monday.

Chip stocks spent just 21 days in bear market territory. But that’s where the good news ends on Tuesday.

Coherent said Monday that its customers had begun sampling its new 300mm high-thermal-conductivity SiC substrates.

Coherent (NYSE:COHR) has begun customer sampling of its advanced 300mm high thermal conductivity silicon carbide substrates for AI infrastructure. The new 300mm substrates are aimed at AI data centers and high performance computing systems that face rising demands for thermal management and material scalability. The sampling program is intended to give chipmakers and system providers early access to Coherent's silicon carbide materials for testing in next generation AI hardware. This move...

S&P 500 stock Sandisk extended a powerful rebound, moving above key levels. Coherent and Teradyne are among Monday's top performers as well.

Coherent stock has surged over the past few years, yet the valuation signals are split, with a Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) intrinsic value estimate pointing to upside while market multiples lean expensive. Coherent has delivered a very large return of around 8x over the past 3 years, which puts extra focus on whether today’s price still reflects its fundamentals. Investor expectations around AI related optical and data center demand can support the current valuation, while any slowdown in...

Semiconductor and energy stocks rallied on Monday—and not much else. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 272 points, or 0.5%. The S&P 500 dropped 0.5%. The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.3%. Meanwhile, the yield on the 30-year Treasury rose to 5.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Coherent and Amphenol are in bases as funds load up. Eli Lilly is also among big money's favorites.

A Taipei supply report on indium phosphide just sent shockwaves through the optics sector, and the institutional money that quietly positioned ahead of Monday's session suggests this squeeze may have much further to run.

After falling short last week, the chip stock benchmark is making another run at a new bull market. The PHLX Semiconductor Index was up 1.7% to 12,630.66 on Monday. It needs to close above 12,536.99 to exit its bear market after 21 days and begin a new bull market.

Tradr ETFs, a provider of ETFs designed for sophisticated investors and professional traders, expects to launch four single-stock leveraged ETFs on Tuesday, August 18. AXTQ will complement Tradr's AXTX, which seeks 2X long exposure on AXTI, while COHQ will complement COHX, which seeks 2X long exposure to COHR.

Chips and memory stocks are catching a bid at the start of what could be a quiet week for the market.

Materials and photonics company Coherent (NYSE:COHR) reported Q2 CY2026 results beating Wall Street’s revenue expectations, with sales up 33.7% year on year to $2.05 billion. On top of that, next quarter’s revenue guidance ($2.3 billion at the midpoint) was surprisingly good and 7.4% above what analysts were expecting. Its non-GAAP profit of $1.74 per share was 7.6% above analysts’ consensus estimates.

Nvidia’s latest investments could give the chipmaker an even bigger stake in the infrastructure boom powering artificial intelligence.

Shares of optical technology leaders Lumentum Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LITE) and Coherent Corp. (NYSE:COHR) experienced some action after the quarterly reports. During the August 12 episode of CNBC’s Mad Money, Jim Cramer highlighted the short-term disconnect between market trading dynamics and business fundamentals in the optical hardware space. He noted: Sometimes, even the best stocks get […]

Shares of materials and photonics company Coherent (NYSE:COHR) jumped 8.8% in the afternoon session after a strong earnings report and positive outlook from rival Lumentum Holdings boosted sentiment for the optical networking equipment sector. Lumentum, a key player in the photonics industry, delivered fiscal fourth-quarter revenue and earnings that surpassed Wall Street's forecasts and issued a stronger-than-expected sales forecast for the upcoming quarter. The upbeat results reinforced expecta

Optics stocks are surging into the weekend with no confirmed catalyst behind the move, while Broadcom sells off sharply even as the broader market hits record highs. The divergence points to a trade worth understanding before Monday.

Applied Optoelectronics' datacenter and CATV growth, manufacturing expansion, and product innovation are fueling momentum against LITE and COHR.

The stock market cleared a tight range, with the S&P 500 and Russell 2000 hitting new highs. Lumentum, Cisco, Super Micro, Sandisk were key movers.

Index funds may be forced to buy nearly three times Reddit's average daily trading volume after its S&P 500 announcement, but a look at the last twelve additions to the benchmark tells a very different story about what happens next.

Coherent has significantly outperformed the broader market, while analysts remain strongly optimistic about its future growth prospects.

The gain was set before the results crossed, and its optical peers rose with it.

The S&P 500 hit a new high amid lower oil prices. Workday and Sandisk lifted software and memory plays. Applied Materials fell late on earnings.

Coherent recovered from an early decline as accelerating data-center sales and stronger margins reinforced its role in AI connectivity.

A single quote from Lumentum's CEO reveals just how staggering the AI networking buildout has become, and it reframes why a handful of optical companies that spent a decade going nowhere are now posting the kind of share gains that make investors question everything they thought they knew about this space.

Explosive demand is growing faster than profitability can follow

Two optics companies beat earnings estimates and watched their stocks crater while rivals selling into the exact same AI demand surge went flying in the opposite direction. The divergence comes down to something buried in the cash flow disclosures that most headlines missed.

Coherent shares fall despite record revenue as investors weigh massive growth spending

Copper cables are choking AI clusters, and two optical companies just reported blowout quarters solving that problem in completely opposite ways. One bets on owning every layer of the stack, the other retreats to the single ingredient nobody else can replicate.

The latest wave of furious chip stock buying could put the semiconductor benchmark into bull market territory. The PHLX Semiconductor Sector, or SOX, was up 2.2% to 12,667.45. A bear market begins when an index falls 20% from a recent high.