By Janet H. Cho
Optical networking company Lumentum Holdings' stock is having another upbeat day.
Lumentum, fresh off a blockbuster first quarter during which the stock rose 84% and the company claimed a spot in the S&P 500, was up more than 11.7% at its intraday high.
Shares were trading at $768.75, up 9.4%, just after 2 p.m. Eastern time, and were on pace for their largest percentage increase since March 24, when it rose 10%, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
The stock is up nearly 109% so far this year, and up 1,050% from 52 weeks ago, when it closed at $66.82.
The company, along with Coherent, joined the S&P 500 index on March 23 as part of the index's quarterly rebalancing. Both are optical networking companies whose technology features in artificial-intelligence data centers, and both stocks surged the day after they were added to the benchmark index.
Coherent's shares were up 4.1% at $248 a share in mid-day trading on Wednesday.
Both Lumentum and Coherent have benefitted from an acceleration of hyperscaler capital spending that has lifted their shares nearly 1,043% and 271.6%, respectively, over the past 12 months. While companies like Nvidia provide the AI processors, companies like Lumentum and Coherent make the technology that allows chips to communicate with each other.
BNP Paribas analyst Karl Ackerman in late March raised his price target on Lumentum to $1,040, from $625, saying the company will benefit from increased demand for optical transceivers, lasers, and other components used in AI data centers. He said Lumentum's purchase of a new factory (called a fab in the tech world) in Greensboro, N.C., will enable the company to expand production of its ultrahigh-powered lasers.
Nvidia last month announced it was investing $2 billion each in both Lumentum and Coherent. It also committed to multibillion-dollar purchase commitments with the two companies.
Lumentum said at the Optical Fiber Communication Conference last month that it sees the total addressable market for optical interconnects growing to $90 billion by 2030, up from about $18 billion now.
Write to Janet H. Cho at janet.cho@dowjones.com
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April 01, 2026 14:56 ET (18:56 GMT)
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