nLIGHT (LASR) AI Stock Analysis

• Market Cap: $2.32B
• Dividend Yield: N/A
• Average Volume (3M): 685.43K
• Price to Earnings (P/E): ―
• Beta (1Y): 1.59
• Revenue Growth: 12.05%
• EPS Growth: 14.24%
• Country: US
• Employees: 800
• Sector: Technology
• Sector Strength: 88
• Industry: Semiconductors
• EPS (TTM): 0.08
• Shares Outstanding: 50,786,007
• 10 Day Avg. Volume: 844,751
• 30 Day Avg. Volume: 685,430
• PEG Ratio: -0.20
• Price to Book (P/B): 2.32
• Price to Sales (P/S): 2.53
• P/FCF Ratio: -48.83
• Enterprise Value/Market Cap: 0.98
• Enterprise Value/Revenue: 9.96
• Enterprise Value/Gross Profit: 41.86
• Enterprise Value/Ebitda: -90.09
• 1Y Price Target: $46.40
• Price Target Upside: 1.73% Upside
• Rating Consensus: Strong Buy
• Number of Analyst Covering: 6
• EPS Forecast (FY): N/A
• Revenue Forecast (FY): N/A

• Rating: 59 Neutral
• Price Target: $48.00 ▲(5.24% Upside)

The score is held back primarily by weak financial performance (ongoing losses and negative operating/free cash flow). Offsetting this are improving technical momentum and a more upbeat earnings outlook driven by strong aerospace and defense growth and margin expansion, while valuation remains constrained by loss-making profitability and no dividend support.

Positive Factors

Aerospace & Defense Revenue Growth

Material, double-digit year-over-year A&D growth reflects durable demand from large defense programs and long-term contracts. Such program-driven revenue is less cyclical than commercial sales and supports predictable backlog and multi-year visibility into cash flows and capacity planning.

Product Gross Margin Expansion

Sustained product margin improvement indicates better customer and product mix plus operational leverage. Higher product margins enhance cash generation potential per unit of revenue, helping fund R&D and defense program investment and improving long-term earnings power if mix persists.

Conservative Capital Structure

Low leverage gives the company financial flexibility to fund R&D, scale manufacturing for defense programs, and absorb operating volatility without immediate refinancing pressure. A stronger capital structure supports long-term strategic investments and funding optionality.

Negative Factors

Negative Operating & Free Cash Flow

Persistent negative operating and free cash flows limit the firm's ability to self-fund growth and capital expenditures, increasing reliance on external capital. Over the medium term this can dilute shareholders, raise financing costs, and constrain investment in strategic programs.

Ongoing Net Losses

Continued GAAP losses and negative margins reduce retained earnings and undermine return generation. Even with adjusted EBITDA improvements, sustained net losses weaken credit metrics and make it harder to demonstrate durable profitability to customers, partners, and investors.

Commercial Market Weakness

An 18% decline in commercial revenue signals persistent softness and concentration risk in non-defense end markets. Prolonged commercial weakness reduces diversification, heightens dependency on defense contracts, and could pressure utilization and margins if civilian demand recovery lags.

nLIGHT Business Overview & Revenue Model

Company Description

nLIGHT, Inc. designs, manufactures, and sells semiconductor and fiber lasers for industrial, microfabrication, and aerospace and defense applications. It operates in two segments, Laser Products and Advanced Development. The company also provides fiber amplifiers, and beam combination and control systems for use in high-energy laser systems in directed energy applications. It sells its products through direct sales force in the United States, China, South Korea, and European countries, as well as through various independent sales representatives and distributors in Asia, Europe, and South America. The company was formerly known as nLight Photonics Corporation and changed its name to nLIGHT, Inc. in January 2016. nLIGHT, Inc. was incorporated in 2000 and is headquartered in Camas, Washington.

How the Company Makes Money

nLIGHT generates revenue primarily through the sale of its laser products, which include high-power fiber lasers and semiconductor lasers. The company has multiple key revenue streams, including direct sales to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and end-users in various industries. Additionally, nLIGHT engages in long-term contracts and partnerships with significant players in the aerospace and defense sectors, which provide steady revenue. The company also invests in research and development to create new technologies and applications for its lasers, further expanding its market reach and revenue potential.

nLIGHT Financial Statement Overview

Summary

Financials remain pressured by persistent net losses and negative operating metrics, compounded by negative operating and free cash flow. The balance sheet is a relative strength with low leverage, but negative ROE and weak cash generation keep the score below average.

Income Statement

nLIGHT's income statement reveals a challenging environment with consistent net losses and negative profit margins. Despite a slight revenue growth in the TTM period, the company struggles with profitability, as indicated by negative EBIT and EBITDA margins. The gross profit margin has improved over the years, but the net profit margin remains negative, reflecting ongoing operational challenges.

Balance Sheet

The balance sheet shows a relatively low debt-to-equity ratio, indicating conservative leverage. However, the return on equity is negative, highlighting inefficiencies in generating profits from shareholders' equity. The equity ratio is stable, suggesting a solid capital structure, but the negative ROE is a concern for investors.

Cash Flow

Cash flow analysis indicates significant challenges, with negative operating and free cash flows in the TTM period. The free cash flow growth rate is negative, and the operating cash flow to net income ratio is unfavorable, suggesting difficulties in converting income into cash. The free cash flow to net income ratio is high due to negative net income, but this is not a positive indicator.

Breakdown	TTM	Dec 2024	Dec 2023	Dec 2022	Dec 2021	Dec 2020
Income Statement
Total Revenue	227.53M	198.55M	209.92M	242.06M	270.15M	222.79M
Gross Profit	54.14M	33.02M	46.11M	50.82M	77.31M	59.36M
EBITDA	-25.16M	-43.75M	-29.92M	-35.51M	-15.16M	-7.36M
Net Income	-43.52M	-60.79M	-41.67M	-54.58M	-29.67M	-20.93M
Balance Sheet
Total Assets	298.69M	270.24M	306.80M	329.23M	373.62M	283.64M
Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments	115.79M	100.70M	112.88M	108.22M	146.53M	102.28M
Total Debt	31.31M	12.13M	14.16M	15.61M	17.68M	13.05M
Total Liabilities	80.20M	53.81M	52.38M	58.39M	71.48M	63.73M
Stockholders Equity	218.49M	216.43M	254.42M	270.85M	302.13M	219.91M
Cash Flow
Free Cash Flow	-10.14M	-10.29M	4.75M	-36.26M	-29.00M	-11.31M
Operating Cash Flow	-75.00K	-2.36M	10.09M	-14.54M	-7.44M	13.04M
Investing Cash Flow	20.34M	16.69M	-14.10M	-72.38M	-21.85M	-24.54M
Financing Cash Flow	19.59M	-1.30M	-859.00K	-1.31M	73.74M	-3.77M

nLIGHT Technical Analysis

• Technical Analysis Sentiment: Positive
• Last Price: 45.61
• 50DMA: Positive
• 100DMA: Positive
• 200DMA: Positive
• MACD: Negative
• RSI: Neutral
• STOCH: Neutral

Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For LASR, the sentiment is Positive. The current price of 45.61 is above the 20-day moving average (MA) of 42.87, above the 50-day MA of 38.44, and above the 200-day MA of 26.40, indicating a bullish trend. The MACD of 2.27 indicates Negative momentum. The RSI at 61.54 is Neutral, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 62.55 is Neutral, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Positive sentiment for LASR.

nLIGHT Peers Comparison

Name	Overall Rating	Market Cap	P/E Ratio	ROE	Dividend Yield	Revenue Growth	EPS Growth
PLAB	74 Outperform	$2.04B	15.10	11.89%	―	-2.04%	8.84%
HIMX	69 Neutral	$1.42B	23.26	7.17%	4.48%	-3.62%	-20.33%
VECO	64 Neutral	$1.88B	37.67	6.12%	―	-3.90%	-41.66%
Sector *	61 Neutral	$37.18B	12.37	-10.20%	1.83%	8.50%	-7.62%
LASR	59 Neutral	$2.32B	-51.36	-19.18%	―	12.05%	14.24%
IPGP	58 Neutral	$3.89B	153.79	1.22%	―	-7.49%	―
AAOI	55 Neutral	$2.98B	-13.52	-40.43%	―	101.25%	-56.11%

nLIGHT Corporate Events

nLIGHT Appoints Gerald Haines II to Board, Audit Committee

On January 5, 2026, nLIGHT, Inc. appointed Gerald M. Haines II to its board of directors as a Class I director, with a term running through the 2028 annual meeting of stockholders, and named him to the board’s audit committee. Haines, a veteran finance and operations executive with prior CFO roles at Metabolon and Impulse Dynamics and extensive experience driving growth, acquisitions, and operational scaling at Mercury Systems and other technology-focused companies, joins nLIGHT under standard director compensation and indemnification terms, bolstering the company’s financial oversight and governance capabilities without any related-party transactions or special selection arrangements disclosed.

The most recent analyst rating on (LASR) stock is a Buy with a $44.00 price target. To see the full list of analyst forecasts on nLIGHT stock, see the LASR Stock Forecast page.