nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.01 EPS

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.01, FiscalAI reports. nLight had a negative net margin of 4.02% and a negative return on equity of 3.19%. The business had revenue of $82.59 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $78.58 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.06 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 33.8% on a year-over-year basis.

Here are the key takeaways from nLight’s conference call:

• Record second-quarter results included revenue of $82.6 million, up 34% year over year, record product revenue of $59 million, $10.7 million in adjusted EBITDA, and record operating cash flow of $20.7 million.
• nLIGHT won the Joint Laser Weapon System contract, with a ceiling of more than $600 million. The program begins contributing revenue in the third quarter, is expected to ramp in 2027, and management says it should more than offset the expected wind-down of HELSI-2.
• Demand remained strong across defense, laser sensing, additive manufacturing, and microfabrication, while kinetic-weapons programs benefited from global restocking and expanding mission applications.
• Supply-chain delays involving optics and other materials from Chinese suppliers are expected to defer roughly $17 million of product revenue from the third quarter into future periods, primarily affecting commercial products. Third-quarter revenue is guided to $63 million-$73 million, with adjusted EBITDA of only $1 million-$7 million and gross margin of 24%-30%.
• The company is qualifying alternative suppliers, redesigning products where possible, and shifting manufacturing and sourcing outside China, but management said the disruption could resolve quickly or persist for months to quarters.

nLight Stock Down 25.6%

nLight stock traded down $19.29 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $56.15. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,447,556 shares, compared to its average volume of 961,228. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.17 billion, a P/E ratio of -224.60 and a beta of 2.31. nLight has a twelve month low of $23.61 and a twelve month high of $86.95. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $67.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $64.67.

nLight News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting nLight this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q2 results exceeded expectations. nLIGHT reported adjusted earnings of $0.15 per share versus the $0.14 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 33.8% year over year to $82.59 million, above expectations of approximately $78.6 million. nLIGHT Announces Second Quarter 2026 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Defense and aerospace demand remained strong. Record aerospace and defense revenue, increasing demand for high-power lasers, and gross-margin and adjusted-EBITDA performance at or above company expectations supported the quarter’s results. LASR Q2 Earnings Surpass Estimates on Strong A&D Growth
• Neutral Sentiment: Management will participate in upcoming Needham and Jefferies investor conferences, potentially providing additional updates on defense demand, supply-chain conditions and growth plans. nLIGHT Announces Participation in Upcoming Investor Events
• Negative Sentiment: Supply issues cloud the near-term outlook. China-linked supply delays are expected to affect third-quarter shipments. nLIGHT guided for Q3 revenue of $63 million to $73 million, a range whose midpoint is below the roughly $69.1 million analyst consensus and signals a potential sequential decline despite robust underlying demand. nLIGHT Stock Falls as China-Linked Supply Issues Overshadow Quarterly Beat
• Negative Sentiment: The earnings outlook prompted caution among analysts, including a Zacks Research downgrade from “strong buy” to “hold,” adding pressure to the stock’s valuation and near-term sentiment. LASR Earnings Call Focuses on Defense and Supply Constraints

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on LASR shares. Zacks Research downgraded nLight from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Roth Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $81.00 price target on shares of nLight in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of nLight in a research note on Friday, May 8th. UBS Group set a $90.00 target price on nLight in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of nLight from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.94.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO James Nias sold 940 shares of nLight stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.99, for a total value of $73,310.60. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 97,621 shares in the company, valued at $7,613,461.79. The trade was a 0.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 16,089 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.60, for a total value of $1,200,239.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,185,039 shares in the company, valued at $163,003,909.40. This trade represents a 0.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 391,038 shares of company stock worth $28,367,419. Insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On nLight

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LASR. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in nLight by 32.3% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,399,229 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,485,000 after buying an additional 341,948 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of nLight by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,234,696 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,320,000 after acquiring an additional 20,043 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership purchased a new position in shares of nLight in the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,315,000. Senvest Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of nLight by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Senvest Management LLC now owns 997,501 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,416,000 after acquiring an additional 96,946 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of nLight by 119.4% during the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 755,754 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,393,000 after acquiring an additional 411,360 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.88% of the company’s stock.

nLight Company Profile

nLIGHT, Inc designs, develops, manufactures, and sells semiconductor and fiber lasers for industrial, microfabrication, and aerospace and defense applications. The company operates in two segments, Laser Products and Advanced Development. It offers semiconductor lasers with various ranges of power levels, wavelengths, and output fiber sizes; and programmable and serviceable fiber lasers for use in industrial and aerospace and defense applications. The company also provides laser sensors, including light detection and ranging technologies for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance applications; and fiber amplifiers, beam combination, and control systems for use in high-energy laser systems in directed energy applications.