Nlight, Inc. (LASR)

Key figures

The last twelve months reported, with the latest price and balance sheet.

Revenue, last twelve months

$310.7M

Revenue growth

43.2%

Net income, last twelve months

-$12.5M

Earnings per share

-$0.25

Gross margin

31.5%

Operating margin

-5.5%

Net margin

-4.0%

Free cash flow

$41.8M

Return on equity

-2.8%

Market value

$2.2B

Cash

$295.8M

Debt

$0

Debt to equity

0.00

Shares outstanding

57.7M

Financial statements

Revenue, profit and cash flow by fiscal year, each year linked to its annual report.

By quarter

What the company said with its results

From the second quarter of 2026 results, filed 6 August 2026.

• Record revenue up 34%. Revenue reached $82.6 million, up 33.8% from $61.7 million, and the company called it a record. Six-month revenue was $162.8 million against $113.4 million.
• Products revenue set a record. Products revenue was a record quarter, up 45%. Management ties the quarter to continued strength in defense and advanced manufacturing markets.
• Net loss narrowed to $1.3M. GAAP net loss was $1.3 million, or $0.02 per diluted share, against $3.6 million, or $0.07. Non-GAAP net income was $9.6 million; the text gives $0.17 per diluted share, but the table shows $0.15 diluted and $0.17 basic.
• Aerospace and Defense led end markets. Aerospace and Defense was the largest end market in the quarter and in the first half, ahead of Industrial and Microfabrication.
• Development revenue rose year over year. Development revenue rose to $23.2 million, from $20.9 million a year earlier. Products remained the larger revenue line.
• Industrial and Microfabrication both grew. Industrial and Microfabrication revenue each rose year over year. In the first half, Microfabrication was the larger of the two.
• Products margin rose, Development fell. Products gross margin was 41.2%, up from 38.5%. Development gross margin was 5.6%, down from 13.1%. Consolidated gross margin was 31.1%, against 33.1% in the first quarter of 2026.
• Operating expenses rose. Operating expenses were $29.3 million against $22.7 million. Sales, general and administrative expense was $16.2 million against $11.7 million a year earlier.
• Adjusted EBITDA rose to $10.7M. Adjusted EBITDA was $10.7 million against $5.6 million a year earlier and $13.8 million in the first quarter. Six-month Adjusted EBITDA was $24.6 million against $5.7 million.
• About $17M of Products revenue moved. Third-quarter revenue guidance leaves out about $17 million of Products revenue because of supply chain challenges. The company had expected to ship that revenue in the third quarter.
• Later delivery timing not specified. The release says the revenue is now expected in future quarters but gives no timing or amount beyond the approximate $17 million figure.
• Midpoint excludes the deferred amount. The $70 million midpoint is built on Products revenue of about $43 million and Advanced Development revenue of about $25 million, excluding the deferred amount.
• Directed energy pipeline expanding. Management said its directed energy pipeline continues to expand and cited a Department of War Joint Laser Weapon Systems contract as the latest example.
• Laser sensing and manufacturing programs growing. Management said laser sensing and advanced manufacturing programs also continue to grow, giving a broad base of new and existing programs.

Revenue by segment

As the company reports it in the segment note of its annual report.

By business, FY2025

By region, FY2025

Company events

The newest 8-K filings of 65 held.

Every filing

The newest filings with the SEC of 182 held.

Insider trades

Form 4 trades by officers, directors and 10% owners, last 12 months.

Planned insider sales

Form 144 notices, filed when the sell order goes to the broker.

Large holders

Schedule 13D and 13G filings by holders of more than 5% of the voting shares.

Short interest

Shares sold short and not yet bought back, on each FINRA settlement date.

Funds that hold it

From each fund's latest Form 13F.

409 funds held it at 30 Jun 2026: 209 added and 117 trimmed in the quarter. The largest:

Peers

Companies in the same industry.

• NVIDIA Corp. (NVDA): revenue $303.0B, market value $5.19T
• Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSM): revenue $122.4B, market value $2.28T
• Broadcom Inc. (AVGO): revenue $89.1B, market value $1.68T
• Micron Technology Inc. (MU): revenue $133.2B, market value $1.11T
• Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD): revenue $41.3B, market value $944.0B
• Intel Corp. (INTC): revenue $57.0B, market value $481.7B
• Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT): revenue $30.8B, market value $330.0B
• Texas Instruments Inc. (TXN): revenue $20.8B, market value $283.1B
• Arm Holdings plc (ARM): revenue $4.9B, market value $251.1B
• Marvell Technology, Inc. (MRVL): revenue $9.5B, market value $220.7B

What the company does

nLIGHT designs, manufactures and sells high-power semiconductor lasers and fiber lasers. Customers typically build these lasers into their own laser systems or manufacturing tools. The company also makes high energy pulsed fiber lasers, fiber amplifiers, and beam combination and control systems for directed energy and laser sensing systems used in defense. It sells into three end markets: Aerospace and Defense, Industrial, and Microfabrication.

How the business is organised

nLIGHT reports two segments. Laser Products made up 68.6% of revenue and Advanced Development made up 31.4%. Advanced Development covers research, design and prototyping of next-generation laser technologies, mainly for government agencies in directed energy and laser sensing. All Advanced Development revenue falls within the Aerospace and Defense market.

Product sales are recognised when control passes to the customer, at shipment or delivery. Development work is recognised over time as costs are incurred. Most development contracts have been structured as cost plus fixed fee, and some are fixed price.

What it sells

The core of the product line is a laser chip made from a gallium arsenide wafer. The company combines and packages multiple chips using what it calls a patented multiplexed single-chip architecture. Its semiconductor lasers come in a range of power levels, wavelengths and output fiber sizes. They are often used as the energy source inside its customers' solid-state lasers.

Its fiber lasers use a proprietary active fiber doped with a rare-earth element. The company describes these lasers as programmable, meaning customers can set beam size, beam shape and pulse timing. It says they are designed to be serviced in the field. Fiber amplifiers amplify optical signals directly within optical fibers and are sold for aerospace and defense and industrial uses.

Who buys from it

Aerospace and Defense accounted for 67.0% of revenue, Microfabrication for 18.1% and Industrial for 14.9%. Aerospace and Defense applications include range finding, imaging, communications, sensing and directed energy weapon systems. Microfabrication means creating microscale structures by ablating, annealing, etching, drilling or precision marking, for products in automotive, electronics, medical and semiconductor markets. Industrial uses include cutting, welding, additive manufacturing, cladding and heat treating.

The top ten customers accounted for approximately 75% of revenue. Named top customers include BAE Systems, KORD Technologies, Mazak, Northrop Grumman, QinetiQ Limited, Raytheon Technologies and the U.S. Government. Backlog covers firm orders and the remaining funded value of research and development contracts. The company says all of its backlog at 31 December 2025 is expected to be filled within the next 24 months. Backlog leaves out the unfunded portion of government contracts.

How it sells and where

In Aerospace and Defense, nLIGHT sells directly to end customers, including the U.S. Government, prime contractors and defense subcontractors. Its sales, marketing and engineering teams for this market are in the United States. In Industrial and Microfabrication, it uses a direct sales force in the United States, China, South Korea and various European countries. Independent sales representatives and distributors in Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East and South America supplement that force.

By ship-to location, North America made up 71.0% of revenue, Asia Pacific 14.7% and EMEA 14.3%. EMEA consists of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Quarterly revenue can vary with customer capital spending, holidays and the U.S. government fiscal year end. A larger share of each quarter's revenue is typically recognised in its last month.

Where it makes things

The company manufactures, packages and tests the critical elements of its lasers in-house, including semiconductor laser chips and optical fiber. Its primary manufacturing facilities are in Camas, Washington; Vancouver, Washington; Hillsboro, Oregon; Longmont, Colorado; and Lohja, Finland. It has invested in highly automated semiconductor packaging lines in Camas. A third-party contract manufacturer in Thailand packages certain semiconductor lasers used in commercial applications. Manufacturing activities in China were discontinued in the fourth quarter of 2024.

Some raw materials and components, such as semiconductor wafer substrates, fiber laser chip packages and optics, come from single or limited-source suppliers. Many of those suppliers have no guaranteed supply arrangements. The company responds with second source qualification, safety stock and vendor surveillance.

How it competes

Competitors that offer semiconductor lasers, fiber lasers, fiber amplifiers and other laser products include IPG Photonics, Coherent, BWT Ltd., Raycus Fiber Laser Technologies and Trumpf GmbH + Co. KG. In Aerospace and Defense it also competes with prime defense contractors and subcontractors. In Industrial it competes with non-laser methods such as plasma cutting, water-jet cutting and resistance welding. Some competitors are larger and have greater resources, and some customers have their own internal laser technologies.

The company says it believes its vertically integrated model, engineering capabilities and customer service let it compete successfully. It relies on patents, trade secrets and trademarks, and says its business is not materially dependent on any single patent.

Its people

About 700 of the over 800 full-time employees were based in the United States. In Austria, employees have the legal capacity to make collective agreements. In Finland, certain employees belong to labor unions for their specialty. There are no labor unions in any other location. The company recruits and reviews people on three criteria it calls Skill, Will and Fit.

*From nLIGHT's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended 31 December 2025. [The filing](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1124796/000112479626000012/lasr-20251231.htm)*

From the company's 10-K.