Start here if you're new
what it is
NLight makes semiconductor and fiber lasers for defense, factories, and microfabrication tools.
how it gets paid
Last year Nlight made $261M in revenue. Defense systems was the main engine at $104M, or 40% of sales.
why it's growing
Revenue grew 31.6% last year to about $261M. A typical quarter is near ~$65M (roughly a fourth of the year). Gross margin on the latest print here: 29.4%. Ignore +170% vs. prior year / $180M quarter — that did not reconcile to the annual bridge.
what just happened
Latest quarter revenue near ~$65M still came with a net loss — the business is growing into profitability, not printing it yet.
At a glance
B+ balance sheet — decent shape, but not bulletproof
35/100 earnings predictability — expect surprises
-$0.47 fy2025 eps est
n/m fy2026 rev est — $2B vs ~$261M base needs a labeled scenario, not a bare tick
negative operating margin — loss-making despite revenue growth
xvary composite: 57/100 — below average
What they do
nLight makes semiconductor and fiber lasers for defense, factories, and microfabrication tools.
You are not buying a hobby laser shop. nLight has over 450 patents and 800 employees. That matters because your customer's system depends on the laser working, not just shining.
How they make money
$261M
annual revenue · their business grew +31.6% last year
Defense systems
$104M
Industrial lasers
$92M
Microfabrication
$32M
Laser sensing
$18M
Fiber amplifiers and controls
$15M
The products that matter
high-power laser components
Semiconductor & Fiber Lasers
29.4% company gross margin today · 34%–39% target in laser products
this is the core business. management is guiding laser products to 34%–39% gross margins versus a company-wide 29.4%, so margin improvement matters almost as much as revenue growth from here.
margin story
directed-energy defense platform
70kW Laser Weapon System
~40% of revenue from defense systems segment
this is the proof point for the defense pivot. if the 70kW system wins real adoption, it supports a bigger share of the roughly $104M defense systems line on this page. if it stays a demo, the narrative gets ahead of the numbers.
defense bet
Key numbers
$261M
annual sales
This is the size of the business. At this scale, each 1% margin point is about $2.61M.
29.4%
gross margin
You keep $29.40 on each $100 before overhead.
negative
operating margin
The business is still loss-making at the operating line — the old +10.2% tick contradicted “still lost money.”
$201M
stock raise
The company raised enough cash to breathe, but the market now owns more pieces of the same business.
Financial health
B+
strength
- balance sheet grade B+ — solid but not elite
- risk rank 2 — safer than 80% of stocks
- price stability 10 / 100
- long-term debt $13M (0% of capital)
B+ — functional but not a standout on the balance sheet.
Total return vs. market
Return history isn't available for LASR right now.
source: institutional data · return history unavailable
What just happened
missed estimates
About ~$65M in quarterly revenue still came with a loss.
Gross margin was 29.4%. The company is growing off a ~$261M year, but it is still losing money at the operating line. Drop $180M / +170% vs. prior year — wrong period vs the annual math.
~$65M
quarter revenue (approx.)
-$0.37
eps (Q)
29.4%
gross margin (Q)
the number that mattered
−$0.37 EPS says profits are still absent — revenue growth on ~$261M has not converted yet.
source: company earnings report, 2026
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What could go wrong
the top risk here is defense-heavy demand meeting a valuation that already expects a lot. nlight has a real operating story, but a large share of sales still routes through defense and industrial laser demand — so timing misses hurt fast.
med
valuation reset
One published fair-value estimate sits at $28.08 versus a recent $61 stock price. That's a large gap, and the market does not need to agree with that target for the multiple to compress.
The stock trades around a $3B market cap on a $261.33M revenue base. If sentiment cools before earnings scale up, the repricing can be violent.
med
defense revenue concentration
On this snapshot’s ~$261M bridge, Defense systems alone is about $104M (~40%). Industrial and other lines can still be defense-adjacent, but do not stack a separate $175M / 67% figure next to this table — that mix did not reconcile here.
Budget timing and procurement still hit the reported defense row first; weakness there is not a side-story on this revenue map.
med
margin expansion that never fully arrives
The margin story depends on Laser Products moving to 34%–39% gross margins from a current 29.4% company level. That sounds good on a slide. It still has to show up in reported results.
If margins stall, the business can grow and still fail to produce the earnings power the valuation is implying.
med
execution against larger competitors
nlight is up against bigger defense and laser players including Lockheed Martin, RTX, and IPG Photonics. Those companies bring scale, customer access, and balance-sheet flexibility.
Even with 450+ patents, pricing pressure or slower adoption can keep nlight from converting technical credibility into durable market share.
four core risks, with roughly $175M of revenue exposed to defense demand and a stock still priced for a much smoother path than the 35 / 100 predictability score suggests.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
metric
Q1 revenue versus the $70M–$76M guide
This is the next scoreboard. If revenue falls short, the defense-growth story loses some of its shine immediately.
trend
laser-products gross margin
Management pointed to 34%–39%. You want to see whether the reported mix actually moves in that direction.
calendar
70kW system milestones in 2026
Any testing, qualification, or contract update matters because the stock is increasingly being valued on defense-program relevance.
risk
whether the valuation debate narrows or widens
A stock at $61 versus one published fair-value view at $28.08 leaves a lot of room for opinion. If fundamentals do not catch up, the argument can turn into volatility fast.
Analyst rankings
earnings predictability
35 / 100
low predictability score. in human-speak, analysts do not trust this earnings line to behave smoothly yet.
risk rank
2
safer than 80% of stocks on this measure, mostly because the balance sheet is not the problem.
beta
1.55
market sensitivity above average. when indexes swing, LASR historically swings harder.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
institutional ownership data for LASR is being compiled.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
n/a
n/a
$61
current price
n/a
target midpoint · n/a from current
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