Renaissance Technologies LLC Trims Stock Position in nLight $LASR

Renaissance Technologies LLC cut its holdings in shares of nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) by 38.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 65,700 shares of the company’s stock after selling 41,800 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned about 0.12% of nLight worth $3,746,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of nLight by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,989,758 shares of the company’s stock valued at $187,166,000 after buying an additional 125,446 shares during the last quarter. Needham Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in nLight by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Needham Investment Management LLC now owns 1,857,740 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,684,000 after acquiring an additional 65,000 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in nLight by 32.3% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,399,229 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,485,000 after acquiring an additional 341,948 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in nLight by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,234,696 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,320,000 after acquiring an additional 20,043 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership acquired a new position in nLight in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,315,000. 83.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on nLight from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Craig Hallum raised their price target on shares of nLight from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of nLight from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Zacks Research downgraded shares of nLight from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut nLight from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.94.

Insider Activity at nLight

In related news, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 35,476 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.40, for a total value of $2,497,510.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 177,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,501,068.80. This represents a 16.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 46,735 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.48, for a total value of $3,200,412.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,375,519 shares in the company, valued at $162,675,541.12. The trade was a 1.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 391,038 shares of company stock worth $28,367,419. Company insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Key nLight News

Here are the key news stories impacting nLight this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q2 results exceeded expectations. nLIGHT reported adjusted earnings of $0.15 per share versus the $0.14 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 33.8% year over year to $82.59 million, above expectations of approximately $78.6 million. nLIGHT Announces Second Quarter 2026 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Defense and aerospace demand remained strong. Record aerospace and defense revenue, increasing demand for high-power lasers, and gross-margin and adjusted-EBITDA performance at or above company expectations supported the quarter’s results. LASR Q2 Earnings Surpass Estimates on Strong A&D Growth
• Neutral Sentiment: Management will participate in upcoming Needham and Jefferies investor conferences, potentially providing additional updates on defense demand, supply-chain conditions and growth plans. nLIGHT Announces Participation in Upcoming Investor Events
• Negative Sentiment: Supply issues cloud the near-term outlook. China-linked supply delays are expected to affect third-quarter shipments. nLIGHT guided for Q3 revenue of $63 million to $73 million, a range whose midpoint is below the roughly $69.1 million analyst consensus and signals a potential sequential decline despite robust underlying demand. nLIGHT Stock Falls as China-Linked Supply Issues Overshadow Quarterly Beat
• Negative Sentiment: The earnings outlook prompted caution among analysts, including a Zacks Research downgrade from “strong buy” to “hold,” adding pressure to the stock’s valuation and near-term sentiment. LASR Earnings Call Focuses on Defense and Supply Constraints

nLight Stock Down 25.6%

LASR opened at $56.15 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -224.60 and a beta of 2.31. nLight has a 52-week low of $23.61 and a 52-week high of $86.95. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $67.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $64.67.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.01. nLight had a negative net margin of 4.02% and a negative return on equity of 3.19%. The business had revenue of $82.59 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $78.58 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.06 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 33.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that nLight will post -0.17 EPS for the current year.

nLight Company Profile

nLIGHT, Inc designs, develops, manufactures, and sells semiconductor and fiber lasers for industrial, microfabrication, and aerospace and defense applications. The company operates in two segments, Laser Products and Advanced Development. It offers semiconductor lasers with various ranges of power levels, wavelengths, and output fiber sizes; and programmable and serviceable fiber lasers for use in industrial and aerospace and defense applications. The company also provides laser sensors, including light detection and ranging technologies for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance applications; and fiber amplifiers, beam combination, and control systems for use in high-energy laser systems in directed energy applications.