
AI datacenter spending has turned optical networking into one of 2026's hottest trades, but the three biggest U.S. optics stocks have performed so differently that picking the wrong one meant leaving triple-digit gains on the table.
Lumentum Holdings Inc. manufactures and sells optical and photonic products in the Americas, Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. The company is headquartered in San Jose, California.
| Revenue (TTM) | $3.01B |
| Gross Profit (TTM) | $1.33B |
| EBITDA | $800.70M |
| Operating Margin | 28.00% |
| Return on Equity | -240.00% |
| Return on Assets | 5.82% |
| Revenue/Share (TTM) | $40.40 |
| Book Value | $52.41 |
| Price-to-Book | 16.37 |
| Price-to-Sales (TTM) | 26.23 |
| EV/Revenue | 24.86 |
| EV/EBITDA | 114.87 |
| Quarterly Earnings Growth (YoY) | 71.10% |
| Quarterly Revenue Growth (YoY) | 109.30% |
| Shares Outstanding | $89.70M |
| Float | $89.06M |
| % Insiders | 0.60% |
| % Institutions | 94.29% |
Volatility is currently contracting

AI datacenter spending has turned optical networking into one of 2026's hottest trades, but the three biggest U.S. optics stocks have performed so differently that picking the wrong one meant leaving triple-digit gains on the table.

Optical-photonics stocks are running Friday morning, along with a stock that's commonly associated with cameras and accessories, even as broad benchmarks slip. Notably, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEARCA:SPY) is down 0.33% to $770.

Every so often, a stock quietly climbs its way into the upper ranks of the market's leaderboard without attracting the attention its performance deserves. Lumentum Holdings NASDAQ: LITE is one of those names.

Lumentum rides AI-driven optical demand as OCS, CPO and NPO expand its market amid rising competition from Marvell and NVIDIA.

The AI optical connectivity trade is cooling this Friday afternoon, with the same names that led August higher pulling back in unison.

Stocks often fall in sympathy after a rival or peer's disappointing earnings. It's got to stop.

Lumentum NASDAQ: LITE CEO Michael Hurlston said the growing bandwidth requirements of artificial intelligence data centers are accelerating a shift from copper connections to optical technologies, creating new demand across racks, clusters and data centers.

Lumentum Holdings Inc. (LITE) Presents at Deutsche Bank 2026 Technology Conference Transcript

Lumentum Holdings (NASDAQ:LITE | LITE Price Prediction) stock is up 4% to $918.10 midday Wednesday, extending a second consecutive session of aggressive buying in a name that has become the standout of the AI optical connectivity trade.

LITE's 1.6T transceiver and 200G laser ramps support AI connectivity growth as capacity expands amid tight supply and tougher competition.
Tiblio connects your broker and runs your put-and-call-writing strategy for you — on LITE and any ticker you trade — then tracks every position and per-strategy win rate.