Aeluma (NASDAQ:ALMU) said fiscal 2026 established a foundation for commercializing its photonics technology for artificial intelligence data-center interconnects, as the company expanded its workforce, strengthened manufacturing relationships and raised capital to support development.
Founder and Chief Executive Officer Dr. Jonathan Klamkin said Aeluma is prioritizing high-speed photodetectors and quantum-dot lasers for AI datacom applications, citing growing demand for high-performance photonics and supply constraints associated with conventional indium phosphide substrates.
Fiscal 2026 Results and Balance Sheet
Aeluma recorded a GAAP net loss of $4 million, or $0.22 per share, in the fourth quarter. For fiscal 2026, its GAAP net loss was $9.2 million, or $0.52 per share, compared with a $3 million loss, or $0.23 per share, in fiscal 2025.
Excluding stock-based compensation, adjusted net loss was $2.7 million, or $0.15 per share, for the fourth quarter and $4.6 million, or $0.26 per share, for the year. Adjusted EBITDA was negative $2.9 million for the quarter and negative $5.2 million for the year, compared with positive adjusted EBITDA of $186,000 in fiscal 2025.
Chief Financial Officer Christopher Stewart attributed the larger loss and lower adjusted EBITDA primarily to increased headcount and other operating expenses. He said fourth-quarter operating expenses also reflected full-quarter salaries for employees hired during the year and normal year-end accruals.
The company ended the quarter with $56 million in cash and cash equivalents and no debt, compared with $37.8 million at the end of the March quarter and $15.7 million at June 30, 2025. During the fourth quarter, Aeluma issued 830,484 shares through its at-the-market facility at an average price of $24.87 per share, generating net proceeds of $20.1 million.
Focus Shifts Toward AI Datacom Commercialization
Klamkin said the company’s near-term commercialization strategy is centered “almost entirely” on AI datacom, although Aeluma remains active in other markets, including mobile. He said advances made for one market can benefit other applications because of the company’s technology platform.
Aeluma’s Lynx photodetector family is being developed for both scale-up and scale-out AI interconnects. The Lynx S Series targets data rates from a few gigabits per second to 64 gigabits per second for short-reach and “slow and wide” interconnects, while the Lynx F Series is intended for 200-gigabit-per-second-per-lane and future 400-gigabit-per-second-per-lane “fast and narrow” applications.
The company is also developing its Quasar family of MOCVD quantum-dot lasers for high-power laser needs in scale-up and scale-out networks. Klamkin said prospective customers are evaluating the lasers for high-temperature operation, reliability and isolator-free packaging.
According to Klamkin, the technology is designed to avoid indium phosphide substrates, which he described as constrained, small, expensive and fragile. Aeluma is initially focused on six-inch gallium arsenide manufacturing for Lynx products and expects to use larger silicon manufacturing in the future to support further scaling and potential integration with silicon photonics.
During the question-and-answer session, Klamkin said both the photodetector and laser opportunities are significant and that the company does not plan to choose one technology over the other. He highlighted demand for both existing pluggable transceiver architectures and emerging near-packaged and co-packaged optics.
Government Funding, Customer Programs and Manufacturing
Aeluma said it expects to recognize approximately $2.3 million in booked government-contract revenue during fiscal 2027, with the possibility of another $2 million from opportunities under discussion. Stewart said the company is not providing formal fiscal 2027 revenue guidance because several contracts could materially affect results.
The company is also negotiating several multimillion-dollar non-recurring engineering, or NRE, agreements with commercial customers. Klamkin said these discussions are focused almost entirely on AI datacom in the near term and are driven in part by anticipated supply-chain gaps as data-center infrastructure demand expands.
On July 29, Aeluma announced a letter of intent with the Department of Commerce’s CHIPS R&D office for up to $30 million to support scalable photonics for AI and advanced computing. Stewart said the terms remain under negotiation, but the company’s current understanding is that a finalized award would likely be accounted for as an equity investment by the U.S. government rather than revenue.
Aeluma also executed an agreement with Sumitomo Chemical Advanced Technologies to expand wafer production capacity using existing MOCVD tools. The initial work will focus on high-speed photodetectors for AI datacom. The company is additionally procuring multiple AIXTRON G10-AsP MOCVD systems and plans to install them for its proprietary processes.
Investment Plans and Organization Growth
Aeluma expanded from 14 employees as of June 30, 2025, to more than 30 employees as of the earnings call, and plans to add further talent. The company appointed Dr. Brendan Moran as vice president of engineering, Jason Taylor as senior director of program and project management, and Dr. Pramit Parikh as a strategic advisor.
Stewart said Aeluma expects fiscal 2027 capital expenditures of approximately $10 million to $12 million, primarily related to two MOCVD reactors as well as production, testing and validation capabilities. He characterized the reactor purchases as more of a one-time expenditure and said they do not represent a departure from the company’s capital-light model.
Looking ahead, management said it expects to be more selective in pursuing government programs, emphasizing projects that support manufacturing scale and commercialization. “The AI datacom opportunity is driving our near-term product-focused commercialization efforts,” Klamkin said.
About Aeluma (NASDAQ:ALMU)
Aeluma, Inc is a semiconductor company that develops and manufactures high-performance components for communications, sensing, computing and other advanced technology applications. The company’s technology is designed to support the production of semiconductor devices on large-area and nontraditional substrates, with the goal of improving performance, scalability and integration.
Aeluma’s products and development efforts include photonic and optoelectronic components such as photodetectors and related devices used in optical communications, data centers, 3D sensing, artificial intelligence, aerospace and defense, automotive systems, and consumer electronics.
