What Happened?
Shares of materials and photonics company Coherent (NYSE: COHR) rose 1.4% in the afternoon session after the stock's positive momentum continued as the company posted strong first-quarter fiscal 2026 financial results, which showed significant growth and positive guidance. The report revealed that revenue reached $1.58 billion, a 17% increase compared to the same period in the previous year. Earnings also saw a substantial rise, with non-GAAP earnings per share coming in at $1.16, up from $0.67 a year prior. Furthermore, Coherent announced it had paid off $400 million of debt. Looking ahead, the company provided upbeat quarterly guidance, projecting earnings per share of up to $1.30. The positive financial performance was echoed by market analysts, who held a consensus "Buy" rating on the stock.
After the initial pop the shares cooled down to $141.60, up 1.2% from previous close.
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What Is The Market Telling Us
Coherent’s shares are extremely volatile and have had 47 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 1 day ago when the stock dropped 6.8% on the news that a major shareholder, Bain Capital, disclosed the sale of over $1 billion worth of its stock. The private equity firm, which owned ten percent of Coherent, sold 7.5 million shares for a total value of approximately $1.075 billion. According to a regulatory filing, this transaction liquidated about 96.7% of Bain Capital's shares in that class of stock. Such a large sale by a significant insider often raises concerns among investors about a company's future outlook.
Coherent is up 40.8% since the beginning of the year, but at $141.60 per share, it is still trading 15.1% below its 52-week high of $166.72 from November 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Coherent’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $2,349.
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