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

1 Cash-Producing Stock with Solid Fundamentals and 2 We Turn Down

ZS Cover Image

Generating cash is essential for any business, but not all cash-rich companies are great investments. Some produce plenty of cash but fail to allocate it effectively, leading to missed opportunities.

Luckily for you, we built StockStory to help you separate the good from the bad. Keeping that in mind, here is one cash-producing company that leverages its financial strength to beat its competitors and two that may face some trouble.

Two Stocks to Sell:

Marriott Vacations (VAC)

Trailing 12-Month Free Cash Flow Margin: 1.4%

Spun off from Marriott International in 1984, Marriott Vacations (NYSE: VAC) is a vacation company providing leisure experiences for travelers around the world.

Why Do We Pass on VAC?

  1. Sluggish trends in its conducted tours suggest customers aren’t adopting its solutions as quickly as the company hoped
  2. ROIC of 5.5% reflects management’s challenges in identifying attractive investment opportunities
  3. High net-debt-to-EBITDA ratio of 7× increases the risk of forced asset sales or dilutive financing if operational performance weakens

Marriott Vacations’s stock price of $75 implies a valuation ratio of 10.4x forward P/E. To fully understand why you should be careful with VAC, check out our full research report (it’s free).

Bio-Techne (TECH)

Trailing 12-Month Free Cash Flow Margin: 21%

With a catalog of hundreds of thousands of specialized biological products used in laboratories worldwide, Bio-Techne (NASDAQ: TECH) develops and manufactures specialized reagents, instruments, and services that help researchers study biological processes and enable diagnostic testing and cell therapy development.

Why Should You Sell TECH?

  1. Organic sales performance over the past two years indicates the company may need to make strategic adjustments or rely on M&A to catalyze faster growth
  2. Smaller revenue base of $1.22 billion means it hasn’t achieved the economies of scale that some industry juggernauts enjoy
  3. Free cash flow margin shrank by 12 percentage points over the last five years, suggesting the company is consuming more capital to stay competitive

At $53.74 per share, Bio-Techne trades at 26.2x forward P/E. If you’re considering TECH for your portfolio, see our FREE research report to learn more.

One Stock to Watch:

Zscaler (ZS)

Trailing 12-Month Free Cash Flow Margin: 27.1%

After successfully selling all four of his previous cybersecurity companies, Jay Chaudhry's fifth venture, Zscaler (NASDAQ: ZS) offers software-as-a-service that helps companies securely connect to applications and networks in the cloud.

Why Do We Like ZS?

  1. Ability to secure long-term commitments with customers is evident in its 24.3% ARR growth over the last year
  2. Sales outlook for the upcoming 12 months implies the business will stay on its desirable three-year growth trajectory
  3. ZS is a free cash flow machine with the flexibility to invest in growth initiatives or return capital to shareholders

Zscaler is trading at $271 per share, or 13.7x forward price-to-sales. Is now the right time to buy? See for yourself in our in-depth research report, it’s free.

High-Quality Stocks for All Market Conditions

When Trump unveiled his aggressive tariff plan in April 2025, markets tanked as investors feared a full-blown trade war. But those who panicked and sold missed the subsequent rebound that’s already erased most losses.

Don’t let fear keep you from great opportunities and take a look at Top 6 Stocks for this week. This is a curated list of our High Quality stocks that have generated a market-beating return of 183% over the last five years (as of March 31st 2025).

Stocks that made our list in 2020 include now familiar names such as Nvidia (+1,545% between March 2020 and March 2025) as well as under-the-radar businesses like the once-small-cap company Comfort Systems (+782% five-year return). Find your next big winner with StockStory today for free. Find your next big winner with StockStory today. Find your next big winner with StockStory today

StockStory is growing and hiring equity analyst and marketing roles. Are you a 0 to 1 builder passionate about the markets and AI? See the open roles here.

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