Optical component stocks such as Lumentum, Coherent, Applied Optoelectronics and AXT look early in an unwind, as a wave of new photonics paid newsletters signals a crowded narrative. Price pays; narratives do not. x.com
Anand
AI Engineer, Thematic Stock & Crypto Trader, Fundamental & Technical Analysis
Most good news for Lumentum and Coherent looks priced in for the near term, since sellers keep meeting every push higher. Both peaked on March 2 after Nvidia's $2 billion investment news, then saw no real follow-through from their March 6 S&P 500 additions or from Jensen Huang's GTC remarks on massive AI infrastructure demand. Markets are forward looking, and good news getting sold deserves close attention. x.com
The photonics-as-AI-bottleneck claim has faded, leaving Lumentum facing more pain before the theme recovers. A large December options node sits at $600; the stock bot targets downside at $650 and $595, with $581 a possible liquidity sweep where smart money would buy instead of rushing in at $650 or $630. Most photonics companies will likely never come back. x.com
Photonics stocks such as Lumentum, Coherent and Applied Optoelectronics look vulnerable because the trade is far too crowded. Today's reversal in the space could be the start of the next leg down. x.com
Photonics stocks remain attractive as AI optical-component demand exceeds supply: Lumentum's CEO says the company cannot meet 70% of demand for some products through 2027 or 30% for others through 2028, with some components sold out into early 2029. The cited basket is LITE, MRVL, AAOI, COHR, SIVE and AEHR. x.com
Photonics stocks such as Coherent, Lumentum, Corning, Applied Optoelectronics and Ciena are priced on unknown future demand rather than current results. Lumentum's revenue has been flat, yet projections for the year ending June 2029 call for $12.8 billion, over 4x this year's $2.96 billion. That is great if true, but a lot can happen before then, especially any disruption to the data-center buildout boom. x.com
Co-packaged optics standards could make finished transceiver modules smaller and more interchangeable as chip designers build optical engines inside their packages. That is another reason to avoid Lumentum, Coherent and Applied Optoelectronics and prefer Soitec. Lumentum and Coherent now earn a lot from finished modules, leaving them exposed if the architecture changes. x.com
Optics and photonics should be among AI's biggest winners as faster GPU networks need optical connections that suppliers cannot expand quickly enough. Lumentum says some components are sold out through early 2029; Sivers is investing $30M to target more than 100M lasers a year, with operations expected in Q4 2027. Potential US restrictions on Chinese transceivers could reshape supply in 2027. Applied Optoelectronics and Sivers are the favorites. x.com x.com
Lumentum, AXT and Coherent face potential delays to CPO and 800V, and their charts started flopping as if the stocks knew ahead of time. Per @BULLOFBRITAIN, citing a SemiAnalysis report, CPO and 800V could be pushed back to 2028–29 while NPO potentially accelerates, with caution urged on names including Lumentum. x.com
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
Photonics suppliers ride the same curves Marvell just laid out through 2030. Marvell targets $70-90B of fiscal 2031 revenue from $8.2B last year, with a TAM 4x its last investor day and interconnect the biggest segment at about $37.5B. Supply is tight: Lumentum's CEO says it can meet only 30% of customer demand next year, and Coherent is booked through 2027. @AsymmetricBets_ applied Marvell's model to Lumentum, Coherent, Applied Optoelectronics, Ciena, Tower Semiconductor and Astera Labs. x.com
Applied Optoelectronics, Lumentum and Coherent face share losses at US hyperscalers to Innolight. Channel checks favor Innolight gaining share in Q2 2026, at the expense of those three. Per @poezhao0605, a $7B Hong Kong IPO, the largest in years and upsized from $5B on strong demand, has cleared its listing hearing. x.com