Broadcom's diverse networking exposure makes it one of the best positioned in the theme. The market has overlooked it year to date. Optical DSPs, Tomahawk and Jericho underpin the view; Tomahawk 6/7 ramps in 2027, and Tomahawk Ultra and optical DSPs should accelerate growth. New XPU customers and extended hyperscaler deals add to earnings upside and an eventual re-rating. Risks remain, and weak semiconductor flows warrant caution about calling a bottom. x.com 

AI bandwidth demand still favors Coherent and Lumentum, but tight customer financing can delay orders and lasting valuations need durable profits. A model provider losing share need not reduce total bandwidth use. Coherent could beat and raise guidance; Lumentum may only meet estimates this quarter, improving next quarter. If margins partly reflect scarce indium phosphide, added supply will test whether upgrades, volume and cost gains sustain earnings. These earnings calls remain forecasts. … Show more

Photonics stocks look like a crowded rotation rather than a better bet than memory. Photonics has a smaller addressable market than memory and moves with it anyway. Buyers are driven by recency bias after Applied Optoelectronics' 90% recovery, traders liquidated in memory seeking higher-risk bets, and smaller companies with higher multiples. @therogueoracle adds that these stocks had massive runs and have not pulled back nearly enough, so they are more likely to chop sideways and down. x.com  … Show more

Coherent's pivot to AI optics is paying off as copper gives way to optical links inside large AI clusters. Quarterly revenue topped $2 billion for the first time, up 42%, with datacenter and communications up 59% to 79% of sales. Multi-year contracts with AI leaders including Nvidia extend order visibility into 2028. It launched its PhotonLink interconnect platform at ECOC 2026, and its indium phosphide, VCSEL and 6-inch wafer strengths give it a moat in 800G and 1.6T transceivers. x.com 

Rising 1.6T switching demand favors optical suppliers, though their execution risks vary. Bank of America says the market could grow ~101% annually through 2030. Marvell's leading DSPs and Lumentum's supply-short 200G EML lasers are lowest risk; Applied Optoelectronics' capacity expansion and Fabrinet's customer concentration make them medium risk. Aeluma remains pre-commercial, while Lightwave Logic's polymer modulators are a high-risk moonshot despite its TSM partnership. x.com 

Interconnect, not compute, is now the binding constraint on AI clusters. Copper, pluggable optics and CPO will coexist for years, so the strongest names span both paths or own the tightest bottleneck. Top five: Credo, the fastest-growing full stack; Applied Optoelectronics, the 800G/1.6T ramp; Marvell, broadest but richly priced; Lumentum, the laser chokepoint; Tower, the foundry bet. Coherent, Amphenol, Fabrinet, GlobalFoundries, TSMC and Broadcom also gain. Astera Labs is pricier and narrower. … Show more

Broadcom's custom AI chips and networking could drive earnings beyond what its valuation implies over 2-3 years. It is the favorite semiconductor opportunity now, preferred over NVIDIA without replacing it. AI semiconductor revenue is projected at about $58B in FY2026, $115B in FY2027 and potentially $230B in FY2028. At about 17x FY2027 consensus adjusted earnings, risk/reward is compelling if growth materializes; customer commitments add visibility, but delays and financing remain risks. x.com  … Show more

Coherent has the most substance in the optical group and the only real base on its chart, while the sector's sell-off is macro, not fundamental. At about 23x 2027 estimates it looks mispriced, and it is the only company holding 6-inch InP, silicon photonics, OCS and CPO engines at once. It alone has stopped making lows. Rate-hike pricing and a 5.04% 10-year are still compressing optical multiples, so staged, defined-risk entries beat full commitments; a daily close below 264 invalidates it. … Show more

Coherent is a structural bet on the data center shift from chips to connectivity, where optical components are now the bottleneck. Hyperscaler capex is forecast up 36% in 2026, and AI infrastructure spending is strategic necessity that won't be deferred in a recession. Nvidia's $2 billion investment locks in optical supply and gives Coherent revenue visibility through the decade. Its S&P 500 inclusion comes while the market prices a recession, setting up a repricing over the next 12 months. … Show more

AI networking and optics growth underpins an extremely bullish outlook for Lumentum, Coherent, Marvell, Credo, Astera Labs and Broadcom. BofA estimates AI networking will grow from $95.6B in 2026 to $394B in 2030, with optical reaching $111B and co-packaged and near-packaged optics reaching $14.1B and $10.7B. Photonics is one of the most interesting investment themes for 2027 onward, though it is a complex market with many players. x.com