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

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) announced its earnings results on Thursday. The company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.01, FiscalAI reports. nLight had a negative return on equity of 3.19% and a negative net margin of 4.02%.The company had revenue of $82.59 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $78.58 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.06 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter 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 Stock Performance

nLight stock traded down $19.29 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $56.15. The stock had a trading volume of 5,447,556 shares, compared to its average volume of 961,228. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.17 billion, a PE ratio of -224.60 and a beta of 2.31. nLight has a fifty-two week low of $23.61 and a fifty-two week high of $86.95. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $67.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.67.

More nLight News

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

Several brokerages have issued reports on LASR. Roth Capital reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $81.00 price target on shares of nLight in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on shares of nLight from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. UBS Group set a $90.00 price objective on shares of nLight in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of nLight in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of nLight from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 35,476 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.40, for a total value of $2,497,510.40. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 177,572 shares in the company, valued at $12,501,068.80. This trade represents a 16.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 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. Also, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 46,735 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.48, for a total transaction of $3,200,412.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,375,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $162,675,541.12. This trade represents a 1.93% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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 have sold 391,038 shares of company stock worth $28,367,419 over the last ninety days. 3.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On nLight

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in nLight during the 4th quarter worth approximately $254,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of nLight by 7,142.9% in the fourth quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,014 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of nLight by 32.3% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,399,229 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,485,000 after purchasing an additional 341,948 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV purchased a new position in shares of nLight during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $353,000. Finally, Virtue Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of nLight by 176.5% during the fourth quarter. Virtue Capital Management LLC now owns 30,616 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,175,000 after buying an additional 19,544 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.