Laser Focus World is an industry bedrock—first published in 1965 and still going strong. We publish original articles about cutting-edge advances in lasers, optics, photonics, sensors, and quantum technologies, as well as test and measurement, and the shift currently underway to usher in the photonic integrated circuits, optical interconnects, and copackaged electronics and photonics to deliver the speed and efficiency essential for data centers of the future.

Our 80,000 qualified print subscribers—and 130,000 12-month engaged online audience—trust us to dive in and provide original journalism you won’t find elsewhere covering key emerging areas such as laser-driven inertial confinement fusion, lasers in space, integrated photonics, chipscale lasers, LiDAR, metasurfaces, high-energy laser weaponry, photonic crystals, and quantum computing/sensors/communications. We cover the innovations driving these markets.

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Editorial Advisory Board

  • Professor Andrea M. Armani, University of Southern California
  • Ruti Ben-Shlomi, Ph.D., LightSolver
  • James Butler, Ph.D., Hamamatsu
  • Natalie Fardian-Melamed, Ph.D., Columbia University
  • Justin Sigley, Ph.D., AmeriCOM
  • Professor Birgit Stiller, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light, and Leibniz University of Hannover
  • Professor Stephen Sweeney, University of Glasgow
  • Mohan Wang, Ph.D., University of Oxford
  • Professor Xuchen Wang, Harbin Engineering University
  • Professor Stefan Witte, Delft University of Technology

2 Stocks Insiders Are Buying and 1 They're Selling

Business concept about Insider Trading with sign on the page.

Market signals are tough to follow because they often fail to deliver their promises. For example, despite their insider activity, the three stocks on this list are all quality buys. In two cases, the insiders are buying, as would be expected. However, in the third, the insiders are selling despite analysts and institutions indicating that its share price will soon skyrocket. 

RLI Corporation Insiders Buy for the First Time in Years

RLI Corporation (NYSE: RLI) is an E&S insurance carrier with a wide range of products for consumers and businesses. Its insider buying is noteworthy because Q1 2025 buying is the first significant activity since 2023 when they sold, and the buying volume is robust. Insiders, including numerous directors and the CEO, made sizeable purchases amounting to $800,000. The purchases are also significant because the insiders already owned nearly 5% of the stock and had considerable exposure to the business. 

Coincidentally, institutional activity is also bullish for this market. The institutions bought on balance every quarter of 2024 and ramped activity in Q1 2025. Buying volume hit a record high, netting nearly $100 million in shares or roughly 1.4% of the stock, bringing the total interest to almost 80%. The institutions will likely continue to buy in 2025 because the stock trades near historically low levels and offers a relatively high-yielding dividend. The dividend is worth nearly 3.5%, with shares at $75 and is expected to grow annually. The company has increased its payout for 12 consecutive years, pays out only 20% of its earnings, and has a healthy balance sheet, so there is nothing to cloud the distribution outlook. 

RLI stock chart

Harmonic Inc. Insiders Buy the Dip 

Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ: HLIT) is a global provider of small-cap broadband access solutions. Its stock price is under pressure in 2025 because of securities fraud allegations relating to misleading statements. The company’s 2024 are the reasons; they are better than expected, but strengths were offset by diminished guidance, which resulted in a 20% stock price plunge after the Q4 results were released. However, sell-siders, including the CEO, CFO, and two directors, stepped in to buy this stock on the dip, and they aren’t the only ones. 

Institutional activity also ramped to a two-year high, netting about $30 million in the first two months of Q2 or about 2.45% of the stock. This is a strong tailwind for the price action because institutions and insiders own virtually 100% of the stock. Analysts are another tailwind, rating the stock at Moderate Buy and forecasting a 20% upside at the consensus. A move to the consensus target would be significant because it is above the cluster of moving averages, including the 150-day EMA, and a signal of shifting market sentiment. 

HLIT stock chart

Insiders Sell Drug Discovery Firm Inotiv

Inotiv (NASDAQ: NOTV) is a small drug discovery firm whose insiders are selling. The selling is noteworthy because the sales in Q1 2025 are the first in years, reversing the buying trend that began in early 2023. Insiders selling include the CEO, CFO, and an SVP, reducing their holding to a still-solid 7.8%. Institutions, conversely, are buying this stock and ramping their activity to a multiyear high. They own a slight 18% of the company but can significantly lift the market if the buying frenzy continues. 

Analysts sentiment is equally bullish. InsiderTrades.com tracks only a handful of analysts covering this stock, but they rate it as a Moderate Buy and see it advancing 35% in the low-end range and more than 100% in the high range. 

NOTV stock chart

Where Should You Invest $1,000 Right Now?

Before you make your next trade, you'll want to hear this.

MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis.

Our team has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and none of the big name stocks were on the list.

They believe these five stocks are the five best companies for investors to buy now...

See The Five Stocks Here

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