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.

Laser Focus World is part of Endeavor Business Media, a division of EndeavorB2B.

Laser Focus World Membership

Never miss any articles, videos, podcasts, or webinars by signing up for membership access to Laser Focus World online. You can manage your preferences all in one place—and provide our editorial team with your valued feedback.

Magazine Subscription

Can you subscribe to receive our print issue for free? Yes, you sure can!

Newsletter Subscription

Laser Focus World newsletter subscription is free to qualified professionals:

The Daily Beam

Showcases the newest content from Laser Focus World, including photonics- and optics-based applications, components, research, and trends. (Daily)

Product Watch

The latest in products within the photonics industry. (9x per year)

Bio & Life Sciences Product Watch

The latest in products within the biophotonics industry. (4x per year)

Laser Processing Product Watch

The latest in products within the laser processing industry. (3x per year)

Get Published!

If you’d like to write an article for us, reach out with a short pitch to Sally Cole Johnson: [email protected]. We love to hear from you.

Photonics Hot List

Laser Focus World produces a video newscast that gives a peek into what’s happening in the world of photonics.

Following the Photons: A Photonics Podcast

Following the Photons: A Photonics Podcast dives deep into the fascinating world of photonics. Our weekly episodes feature interviews and discussions with industry and research experts, providing valuable perspectives on the issues, technologies, and trends shaping the photonics community.

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 Software Stocks with Competitive Advantages and 1 Facing Challenges

NCNO Cover Image

From commerce to culture, software is digitizing every aspect of our lives. The undeniable tailwinds fueling SaaS companies have led to lofty valuation multiples historically, but rich prices also make re-ratings harder and place a ceiling on returns - over the past six months, the industry’s 5.3% gain has lagged the S&P 500 by 5.2 percentage points.

Investors should tread carefully as only some businesses are worthy of their valuations, and luckily for you, we started StockStory to help you find them. With that said, here are two resilient software stocks at the top of our wish list and one we’re swiping left on.

One Software Stock to Sell:

nCino (NCNO)

Market Cap: $3.72 billion

Born from the internal technology needs of a community bank in 2011, nCino (NASDAQ: NCNO) provides cloud-based software that helps financial institutions streamline client onboarding, loan origination, and account opening processes.

Why Is NCNO Not Exciting?

  1. Sales trends were unexciting over the last three years as its 19.1% annual growth was below the typical software company
  2. Estimated sales growth of 5.7% for the next 12 months implies demand will slow from its three-year trend
  3. Gross margin of 60.2% is below its competitors, leaving less money to invest in areas like marketing and R&D

nCino is trading at $32 per share, or 6.1x forward price-to-sales. To fully understand why you should be careful with NCNO, check out our full research report (it’s free).

Two Software Stocks to Watch:

Dynatrace (DT)

Market Cap: $15.26 billion

With its platform processing over 30 trillion pieces of IT performance data daily, Dynatrace (NYSE: DT) provides an AI-powered platform that helps organizations monitor, secure, and optimize their applications and IT infrastructure across cloud environments.

Why Does DT Stand Out?

  1. Average billings growth of 18.9% over the last year enhances its liquidity and shows there is steady demand for its products
  2. Software is difficult to replicate at scale and leads to a premier gross margin of 81.9%
  3. Strong free cash flow margin of 26.2% enables it to reinvest or return capital consistently

Dynatrace’s stock price of $50.40 implies a valuation ratio of 7.5x forward price-to-sales. Is now the right time to buy? See for yourself in our in-depth research report, it’s free.

Shopify (SHOP)

Market Cap: $183.6 billion

Starting with just three people selling snowboards online in 2004, Shopify (NYSE: SHOP) provides a comprehensive platform that enables merchants of all sizes to create, manage and grow their businesses across multiple sales channels.

Why Are We Fans of SHOP?

  1. Payment activity on its platform is soaring as its TPV growth averaged 33.6% over the last year, enabling the company to collect more fees and upsell additional services like banking
  2. Expected revenue growth of 23.7% for the next year suggests its market share will rise
  3. Software platform has product-market fit given the rapid recovery of its customer acquisition costs

At $141.30 per share, Shopify trades at 14.9x forward price-to-sales. Is now the time to initiate a position? Find out in our full research report, it’s free.

Stocks We Like Even More

Trump’s April 2025 tariff bombshell triggered a massive market selloff, but stocks have since staged an impressive recovery, leaving those who panic sold on the sidelines.

Take advantage of the rebound by checking out our Top 9 Market-Beating Stocks. 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 Exlservice (+354% 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.

Stock Quote API & Stock News API supplied by www.cloudquote.io
Quotes delayed at least 20 minutes.
By accessing this page, you agree to the following
Privacy Policy and Terms Of Service.