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

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) released its earnings results on Thursday. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $78.58 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.06 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 33.8% compared to the same quarter last year.

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 Trading Down 25.6%

NASDAQ LASR traded down $19.29 on Friday, reaching $56.15. The stock had a trading volume of 5,447,556 shares, compared to its average volume of 961,228. nLight has a 1 year low of $23.61 and a 1 year high of $86.95. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $67.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $64.67. The company has a market capitalization of $3.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -224.60 and a beta of 2.31.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of nLight from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Roth Capital reissued a “buy” rating and set a $81.00 target price on shares of nLight in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of nLight in a report on Friday, July 17th. UBS Group set a $90.00 target price on nLight in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Craig Hallum lifted their price target on nLight from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.94.

Key Stories Impacting nLight

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

Insider Transactions at nLight

In related news, CAO James Nias sold 940 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 97,621 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,613,461.79. This represents a 0.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible 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 firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.60, for a total transaction of $1,200,239.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,185,039 shares in the company, valued at approximately $163,003,909.40. The trade was a 0.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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. Insiders sold 391,038 shares of company stock valued at $28,367,419 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LASR. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in nLight by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $997,000 after purchasing an additional 422 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of nLight by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 6,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $225,000 after purchasing an additional 443 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of nLight by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 17,988 shares of the company’s stock worth $354,000 after purchasing an additional 723 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of nLight by 7,142.9% during the fourth quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,014 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of nLight by 45.5% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 3,488 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,000 after buying an additional 1,091 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.88% of the company’s stock.

About nLight

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.