NLIGHT INC (LASR)
Information Technology · Optoelectronics & Photonics · NASDAQ
nLIGHT is an innovative designer and manufacturer of high-power semiconductor and fiber lasers for industrial, aerospace, and defense applications.
What NLIGHT INC does
nLIGHT, Inc. is a provider of high-power semiconductor lasers, fiber lasers, and optical components. The company develops and manufactures laser products used in various applications, including industrial material processing, aerospace and defense, and microfabrication.
Themes: industrial automation / material processing, aerospace and defense electronics, microfabrication technologies, photonics and optical components
Fundamentals
- Price$47.39 as of 2026-08-21 close
- Market cap$2.7B as of 2026-08-21
- 1-year return+75.2% 2025-08-21 close $27.05 → 2026-08-21 close $47.39
- P/En/a negative earnings
- Net margin-5.1% as of 2026-08-24
- Gross margin+31.3% as of 2026-08-24
- ROE-5.4% as of 2026-08-24
- Debt / equity0.05 as of 2026-08-24
- Revenue growth (YoY)+40.9% as of 2026-08-24
- Revenue CAGR (3y)+2.6% SEC XBRL
- Beta2.42 as of 2026-08-24
- Last reported earnings2026-08-06 SEC EDGAR Form 8-K (Item 2.02)
How LASR compares in its sector
- net profit marginmiddle range 405 covered Information Technology peers, as of 2026-08-24
- operating marginmiddle range 405 covered Information Technology peers, as of 2026-08-24
- gross marginbottom 25% 403 covered Information Technology peers, as of 2026-08-24
- return on equitymiddle range 405 covered Information Technology peers, as of 2026-08-24
- 3-year revenue CAGRmiddle range 386 covered Information Technology peers
- free cash flow (absolute dollars, latest fiscal year)middle range 382 covered Information Technology peers, as of FY2025
Position among covered Information Technology companies that report each metric (minimum 5 peers). A relative position within our covered catalog — not a valuation, quality, or investment judgment. A higher percentile is simply a higher value (for P/E, more expensive on earnings — never "better"). Informational only.
Top 10 scores & list membership
LASR is not currently in any published Top 10 list. Its scores are below.
Long-term score
Not scored for the long-term list: no shareholder return data.
Short-term score
32.8 #1601 of 1,704 scored · #250 of 261 in Information Technology
Catalysts 43rd: the analyst consensus rating is unchanged since the prior reading; setup 43rd: over the past year its closes ranged, and it has retraced close to two thirds of its move over the past year — 64% of it; weakest is trend 22nd: it is trading 26.0% below its 50-day average, the short-term trend line.
Scores as of 21 Aug 2026. Each bar is a percentile: how this company ranked against every company the score ranked, 0–100. A list is a published formula and its output, not a recommendation. Method version 2.
How NLIGHT INC looks technically
NLIGHT INC (LASR) is trading 15.4% below its 200-day average, the long-term trend line — a long-term downtrend. Its 50-day average crossed above its 200-day average about 297 trading days ago — a "golden cross", a bullish long-term signal. A trend is forming but not yet strong — ADX, a 0–100 trend-strength gauge, is 22 (a reading of 25+ marks a strong trend). Momentum is neutral — its 14-day RSI (a 0–100 momentum gauge) is 36, neither overbought (above 70) nor oversold (below 30). It made a new 20-day low about 2 trading days ago. It is 45.5% below its highest point of the past year.
Trend
7
| Distance from the 200-day | it is trading 15.4% below its 200-day average, the long-term trend line — a long-term downtrend | -15.4% |
|---|---|---|
| 50-day moving average | its average price over the last 50 trading days — a short-term trend line — is $64.05 | $64.05 |
| 200-day moving average | its average price over the last 200 trading days — the long-term trend line — is $56.02 | $56.02 |
| Swing structure | its recent peaks and dips disagree — one of them is rising while the other is not, so there is no clean up or down pattern in the swings | mixed — one of the two is not confirming |
| Last swing turn | its last significant turn was a swing low 10 calendar days ago — the swings before that are what the structure reading is measured on | 10 sessions |
| Since the 50/200 cross | its 50-day average crossed above its 200-day average about 297 trading days ago — a "golden cross", a bullish long-term signal | 297 sessions |
| Trend strength (14-day ADX) | a trend is forming but not yet strong — ADX, a 0–100 trend-strength gauge, is 22 (a reading of 25+ marks a strong trend) | 21.9 |
Momentum
3
| 14-day RSI | momentum is neutral — its 14-day RSI (a 0–100 momentum gauge) is 36, neither overbought (above 70) nor oversold (below 30) | 36.5 |
|---|---|---|
| Position in its 14-day range | it is trading right at the bottom of its 14-day range ($45.72 to $80.10) — its "stochastic" reading is 5 out of 100, where 0 would mean closing exactly at the 14-session low and 100 exactly at the high. This measures WHERE the price sits inside its recent range, which is a different question from the RSI beside it: RSI is a momentum gauge, measuring how FAST the price has been moving, so a stock can drift quietly to the bottom of its range with an ordinary RSI, or fall sharply and still sit in the middle. It has been climbing within that range over the last few sessions. | 4.9 |
| Since the MACD crossed zero | MACD, a trend-momentum gauge, is in negative territory (momentum leaning bearish) | 11 sessions |
Range
12
| 52-week high | its highest closing price over the past year (about 252 trading days) was $86.95 | $86.95 |
|---|---|---|
| From the 52-week high | it is 45.5% below its 52-week high (its highest price of the past year) | -45.5% |
| Above the 52-week low | it is 90.5% above its 52-week low (its lowest price of the past year) | +90.5% |
| Below the 52-week high | it is 45.5% below its highest point of the past year | 45.5% |
| Since a 20-day breakout | it made a new 20-day low about 2 trading days ago | 2 sessions |
| Since a 55-day breakout | it made a new 55-day low about 2 trading days ago | 2 sessions |
| All-time high | its highest closing price on record is $86.95 (set on 2026-05-08) | $86.95 |
| Given back of the 52-week move | over the past year its closes ranged ($25.96 to $84.95), and it has given back close to two thirds of its rise from last year’s low — 64% of it. Chart-watchers call 61.8%-65% given back the "golden pocket", and this is inside it — for this company that is $46.61 to $48.49. It is watched widely enough that orders cluster there, which is the honest reason it matters; it is not a forecast. | 63.7% |
| From the all-time high | it is 45.5% below its all-time high | -45.5% |
| Nearest price level | it is trading 3.0% below a resistance level at $48.79 — a price it turned at three times since 2026-01-22, most recently on 2026-08-11. Since 2024-08-21 it has 11 such levels below the current price and 7 above. Levels like these describe where the price has reversed or paused before; they are not a forecast of where it will go. | +3.0% |
| All-time low | its lowest closing price on record is $6.20 (set on 2025-04-04) | $6.20 |
| Above the all-time low | it is 664.4% above its all-time low | +664.4% |
Volatility
5
| Band width vs its own 6 months | day-to-day price swings are unusually wide versus its own recent history (wider than about 99% of the past ~6 months) | 99th percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Typical daily range | in a typical session it travels about $5.43 between its high and its low — about 11.5% of its price. That is its "average true range" over the last 14 sessions, which also counts the distance from the previous close, so a day that opens well away from yesterday counts as the large move it was | $5.43 |
| Bollinger bands (20-day, ±2σ) | most of its recent trading has stayed between about $38.83 and $79.31 — the "Bollinger bands", a range drawn two standard deviations either side of its 20-day average price, which widens when the stock gets more volatile and narrows when it settles | $38.83 – $59.07 – $79.31 |
| Typical daily range (% of price) | its price moves about 11.5% in a typical session — among the most volatile in the catalog. This is the average gap between a session's high and low over the last 14 sessions, counting overnight moves, expressed against the current price so it can be compared with companies trading at any price | 11.5% |
| Stretch from the 200-day average | it is trading 1.6 daily ranges below its 200-day average price (15.4% below it in plain percentage terms) — a way of asking how far it has stretched from its own average in units of how far it normally moves in a day, so a calm company and a jumpy one can be compared on the same scale | 1.6 daily ranges below its 200-day average |
Volume
1
| Volume vs its 30-day average | trading volume is about normal versus its 30-day average | 0.87× |
|---|
Analyst
2
| Change in the average price target | analysts' average price target is unchanged from the prior reading | 0.0% |
|---|---|---|
| Change in the consensus rating | the analyst consensus rating is unchanged since the prior reading | unchanged |
Candlestick patterns
1
| Since a bullish engulfing | 5 sessions ago it opened below the previous session's close and finished above that session's open — a "bullish engulfing" pair, where one up day more than undid the down day before it | 5 sessions ago |
|---|
Price gaps
3
| Gap at the open | it opened on 2026-08-21 4.1% above the previous session's close — an overnight gap, the part of the move that happened while the market was shut, and traded back through that level before the close | +4.1% |
|---|---|---|
| Open gap | it gapped 22.8% below the previous close 10 sessions ago and has not traded back through the level it left behind at 75.44 — an "unfilled gap", which describes a price range no trade has since crossed and is not a forecast that it will be crossed | -22.8% |
| Gap filled | a 4.1% gap up opened on 2026-08-21 has been "filled" today — price traded back through the level the gap left behind, and it closed again during the very session that opened it | today |
Price streaks
1
| Closing streak | it closed higher in its latest session, after a session that did not close higher — a single up day rather than a run | 1 session up |
|---|
Relative strength
4
| vs market, 1 month | over the past 1 month this stock lagged the market by 39.3 percentage points (the stock lost 37.0% while the market gained 2.3%) | -39.3% |
|---|---|---|
| vs market, 3 months | over the past 3 months this stock lagged the market by 41.1 percentage points (the stock lost 38.0% while the market gained 3.1%) | -41.1% |
| vs market, 6 months | over the past 6 months this stock lagged the market by 26.5 percentage points (the stock lost 15.4% while the market gained 11.1%) | -26.5% |
| vs market, 12 months | over the past 12 months this stock beat the market by 54.7 percentage points (the stock gained 75.2% while the market gained 20.5%) | +54.7% |
Signal agreement
2
| Bullish technical signals | 2 of the 9 technical signals we can compute for it are currently in a bullish state: a "golden cross" — its 50-day average is above its 200-day, near the bottom of its 14-day range (oversold) — these describe past price behaviour, not a forecast | 2 of 9 |
|---|---|---|
| Bearish technical signals | 5 of the 9 technical signals we can compute for it are currently in a bearish state: trading below its 200-day average, a fresh 20-day low, MACD momentum is negative, lagging the market over 6 months, trading below the Ichimoku cloud — these describe past price behaviour, not a forecast | 5 of 9 |
Trend (Ichimoku cloud)
1
| Vs the Ichimoku cloud | trading 29% below the Ichimoku cloud — a band drawn from where its own highs and lows sat up to 2026-07-16 and projected forward over today's price, the side traders read as an established downtrend, with the band above acting as the level that would have to be cleared. The band itself is thick, spanning 11.1% of the share price, which is taken to mean a barrier that has held for a while and takes effort to cross. | -28.9% |
|---|
Volume-weighted price
2
| Vs this year’s average price paid | the price is 24% below the average price paid so far this year, so the typical buyer over that stretch is under water. That average is $62.48 — a volume-weighted average of daily closes over 155 sessions, not a true tick-by-tick VWAP. | -24.1% |
|---|---|---|
| Vs the average paid since it last reported | the price is 11% below the average price paid since it last reported on 2026-08-06 (its 8-K), so the typical buyer over that stretch is under water. That average is $53.36 — a volume-weighted average of daily closes over 12 sessions, not a true tick-by-tick VWAP. | -11.2% |
Price levels it has turned at before
LASR last closed at $47.39 on 2026-08-21. Since 2024-08-21 it has turned at 11 prices below its last close and 7 above; the 3 nearest below and the 3 nearest above are listed, nearest first.
| Level | Side | Distance | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| $48.79 | Resistance | 3.0% above the last close | turned there three times · 2026-01-22 to 2026-08-11 |
| $53.38 | Resistance | 12.6% above the last close | turned there twice · 2026-02-27 to 2026-03-30 |
| $38.63 | Support | 18.5% below the last close | turned there twice · 2025-11-10 to 2025-12-11 |
| $56.62 | Resistance | 19.5% above the last close | turned there twice · 2026-03-09 to 2026-07-08 |
| $33.76 | Support | 28.8% below the last close | turned there twice · 2025-10-16 to 2025-10-28 |
| $32.26 | Support | 31.9% below the last close | turned there twice · 2025-09-22 to 2025-10-03 |
A level is a price this company reversed or paused at more than once — they describe past behaviour, not a forecast of where the price will go.
Wave structure
No Elliott-wave labelling currently fits its swings: the recent highs and lows do not satisfy the three rules a five-wave count has to obey, so there is no count to show rather than a count we are unsure about.
Read from daily closes as of 2026-08-21.
An Elliott-wave count describes the swings already printed and the level that would disprove it. It is not a forecast, a target, or advice.
Screens: Trading below the 200-day moving average · Pulled back from the 12-month high · Broke down to a new 20-day low · lagging the market · Gapped up at the open (3%+) · Most volatile (6%+ typical daily range) | Learn: moving average · golden cross · adx · rsi · breakout · fifty two week high low
Based on daily closing prices as of 2026-08-21. Describes past price behavior only — informational, not financial advice.
Analyst consensus
- Consensus ratingStrong Buy (1.33 mean, 1=Strong Buy…5=Strong Sell) — 7 analysts
- Mean price target$88.86 range $81.00 – $100.00; median $90.00
Analyst estimates, as of 2026-08-22. These are third-party analyst opinions and price targets, aggregated — not a recommendation, prediction, or advice from stocks-llm. Informational only.
Analyst EPS estimate for LASR
- Consensus EPS estimate$0.05375 next reporting period, as of 2026-08-22
Change over time is not available yet: it needs two readings of the same reporting period at least 30 days apart, and we have been recording these estimates since 2026-08-04. An estimate for a DIFFERENT quarter is not a revision, so a reading from before the last report is never compared with one after it.
The consensus estimate for the next reporting period, and how it has moved between readings of that SAME period. A change is measured only between readings estimating one period — when a company reports, the consensus moves to the next quarter and the two numbers are not comparable. Informational only, not a forecast and not advice.
Key risks (from latest filing)
["History of operating losses and accumulated deficit","Exposure to international markets and potential supply chain disruptions","Intense competition and rapid technological change in the laser industry"]
What changed in the latest 10-Q
AI-assisted comparison of LASR's 10-Q filed 2026-05-08 against the prior one filed 2025-11-07.
Management's Discussion & Analysis (MD&A)
- Added:
- Added in newer filing (2026-05-08): 'We design, develop, manufacture, integrate and sell a range of high-power semiconductor lasers and fiber lasers and related components, modules and subsystems that are typically integrated into laser systems or manufacturing tools built by us or our customers.'
- Added in newer filing (2026-05-08): 'We also make high energy pulsed fiber lasers, fiber amplifiers, and beam combination and control systems for use in high-energy laser systems for directed energy and laser sensing systems for use in a wide range of commercial and defense applications.'
- Added in newer filing (2026-05-08): 'Our long history of commercial technology development and vertical integration enables us to develop products that leverage the same underlying technology across a variety of applications and markets, thereby enabling us to leverage the development of shared technologies in unique combinations to offer innovative and reliable products to customers in each of our end markets.'
- Added in newer filing (2026-05-08): 'We sell our products into three primary end markets: Aerospace and Defense, Industrial, and Microfabrication.'
- Added in newer filing (2026-05-08): Revenue and net income comparison for three months ended March 31, 2026 vs. 2025: '$80.2 million' vs. '$51.7 million' and 'net income of $0.6 million' vs. 'net loss of $8.1 million'
- Added in newer filing (2026-05-08): 'in the Laser Products segment and the Advanced Development segment' specification in Overview section
- Removed:
- Removed from newer filing: 'headquartered in Camas, Washington' from company description
- Removed from newer filing: Nine-month revenue and net loss comparisons for September 30, 2025 vs. 2024 ('$180.1 million' vs. '$151.2 million' and 'net loss of $18.6 million' vs. 'net loss of $35.8 million')
- Removed from newer filing: Reference to 'or ASPs' (spelled out in older as 'average selling prices, or ASPs')
- Removed from newer filing: Text describing contract manufacturer capacity utilization and fixed cost impact on gross margin
- Removed from newer filing: 'Our Development gross profit varies with the type and terms of contracts...' paragraph
- Removed from newer filing: 'Seasonality' section heading and opening text about quarterly revenue fluctuations
- Reworded:
- Older filing (2025-11-07) states 'is a leading provider of high-power lasers for mission critical directed energy' while newer filing (2026-05-08) states 'is a leading provider of high‑power lasers for mission-critical directed energy' (hyphenation change)
- Older filing (2025-11-07): 'We invest heavily in research and development to provide solutions' vs. newer filing (2026-05-08): 'We invest heavily in the development of our semiconductor, fiber laser, directed energy, and laser-sensing technologies to provide solutions' (added specificity about technology areas)
- Older filing (2025-11-07): 'and anticipate that we will continue to invest' vs. newer filing (2026-05-08): 'We anticipate that we will continue to invest' (restructured sentence)
- Notes:
- The two filings cover different reporting periods (three months ended March 31, 2026 in newer vs. nine months ended September 30, 2025 in older), which accounts for some content differences being period-specific rather than true changes in disclosure approach.
- The newer filing appears to be a truncated version ending mid-sentence ('Even though certain of our products are built offshore by contract manufacturer'), making full assessment of all changes impossible.
Risk Factors
The two filings could not be meaningfully compared for this section.
AI-assisted comparison of two SEC filing sections. It describes wording and theme changes only, makes no materiality, legal, or investment judgement, and is not financial advice. Informational only — not financial advice.
Insider activity (SEC Form 4)
0 open-market purchases and 21 open-market sales by insiders in the last 90 days.
- Last 90 days0 buys · 21 sells ($9M) — 3 selling insiders
- Last 180 days0 buys · 45 sells ($31M) — 3 selling insiders
Activity heuristic: net selling (a transparent product heuristic from the counts above, not a prediction or advice)
Most recent open-market transaction: 2026-06-04. As of 2026-08-24.
View full insider trading history → View SEC Form 3/4/5 filingsAsk about LASR's insider activity →
Only open-market purchases (SEC code P) and sales (code S) are counted here. Option exercises, vesting/awards, gifts, and shares withheld for taxes are excluded — they are compensation or mechanical, not open-market conviction. Sales may be planned and non-discretionary (e.g. a Rule 10b5-1 plan) and are not necessarily bearish; open-market buying is not a recommendation to buy. Informational only — not financial advice.
Institutional ownership (13F)
5 institutional 13F filers reported holding LASR as of 2026-03-31 (quarter-end position, filed within 45 days).
- Distinct 13F filers 5
- Reported shares held 7,209,287
- Reported value $411,073,535
reported quarterly holdings change (2025-12-31 → 2026-03-31): 0 new, 3 increased, 2 decreased, 0 exited. Change counts cover only managers that filed 13F reports in BOTH quarters, derived between two quarter-end snapshots — not same-day trades; a single manager is never said to have "bought" or "sold".
Institutional holdings are quarter-end long positions reported on SEC Form 13F-HR, filed up to 45 days after the quarter ends — they are delayed, are not real-time trades, exclude short positions and most non-US securities, and are not investment advice. Any increase/decrease is a reported change between two quarterly snapshots, not a same-day purchase or sale. These are quarter-end snapshots from the 13F filings on SEC EDGAR, filed within 45 days — not real-time, and any change is a difference between two quarterly reports, not a same-day trade. Informational only — not financial advice.
Short interest (FINRA)
LASR had 2,876,238 shares of reported short interest as of the 2026-07-31 FINRA settlement date (delayed, bi-monthly; not real-time).
LASR had 4.99% of its shares outstanding sold short as of the 2026-07-31 FINRA settlement date (percent of FLOAT would be higher — float is not disclosed in the source). FINRA reported 3.3 days to cover at the same settlement.
- Reported short interest (shares) 2,876,238
- Short interest (% of shares outstanding) 4.99%
- Prior settlement (shares) 2,877,051
- Reported change -0.03%
- Days to cover (reported) 3.3
Reported to FINRA as of the 2026-07-31 settlement date. Short interest is reported to FINRA and published on a delayed, bi-monthly schedule (as of a settlement date, disseminated roughly eight business days later) — it is NOT real-time, does not cover every venue or all US trading, and is not a short-squeeze prediction or investment advice. Days-to-cover is the value FINRA reports; percent of float is not shown because the source file carries no share-count denominator — where a percent appears it is of shares OUTSTANDING, the larger base, and is therefore a floor on percent of float. Informational only — not financial advice.
Competitors & peers
- IPG Photonics (IPGP)
- Coherent (COHR)
- Trumpf Group
- Lumentum (LITE)
- Jenoptik (JNPK)
AI-enriched competitor set. Linked names are companies covered by stocks-llm; other named peers are shown for reference only.
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Frequently asked questions
What does NLIGHT INC (LASR) do?
nLIGHT, Inc. is a provider of high-power semiconductor lasers, fiber lasers, and optical components. The company develops and manufactures laser products used in various applications, including industrial material processing, aerospace and defense, and microfabrication.
What sector is NLIGHT INC (LASR) in?
NLIGHT INC (LASR) is classified in the Information Technology sector. Its industry is Optoelectronics & Photonics. It trades on NASDAQ.
Who are NLIGHT INC's (LASR) competitors?
Notable peers of NLIGHT INC (LASR) include IPG Photonics, Coherent, Trumpf Group, Lumentum and Jenoptik. This peer set is informational only — not financial advice.
Is NLIGHT INC (LASR) overbought or oversold right now?
NLIGHT INC (LASR) is currently neither overbought nor oversold — its 14-day RSI (a 0–100 momentum gauge) is 36, in the neutral middle (as of 2026-08-21). RSI describes recent price momentum, not a forecast — informational only, not financial advice.
Where does stocks-llm's data on LASR come from?
Fundamentals and prices come from market data, as of 2026-08-24; company filings and profile facts come from SEC EDGAR. All figures are delayed daily-close data shown with their as-of date — informational only, not financial advice.
Fundamentals: market data, as of 2026-08-24. Filings: SEC EDGAR. Prices are delayed daily-close data.
Last updated 2026-08-21.
Informational only — NOT financial advice. All figures are delayed daily-close data from SEC EDGAR & market data, shown with their as-of date.