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.

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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

1 Volatile Stock to Consider Right Now and 2 We Turn Down

PD Cover Image

A highly volatile stock can deliver big gains - or just as easily wipe out a portfolio if things go south. While some investors embrace risk, mistakes can be costly for those who aren’t prepared.

These stocks can be a rollercoaster, and StockStory is here to guide you through the ups and downs. Keeping that in mind, here is one volatile stock that could reward patient investors and two that could just as easily collapse.

Two Stocks to Sell:

PagerDuty (PD)

Rolling One-Year Beta: 1.43

Born from the frustration of developers being woken up by unprioritized alerts, PagerDuty (NYSE: PD) is a digital operations management platform that helps organizations detect and respond to IT incidents, outages, and other critical issues in real-time.

Why Does PD Worry Us?

  1. Products, pricing, or go-to-market strategy may need some adjustments as its 5.9% average billings growth over the last year was weak
  2. Estimated sales growth of 5.5% for the next 12 months implies demand will slow from its three-year trend
  3. Poor expense management has led to operating margin losses

PagerDuty’s stock price of $16.05 implies a valuation ratio of 2.9x forward price-to-sales. Dive into our free research report to see why there are better opportunities than PD.

Expedia (EXPE)

Rolling One-Year Beta: 1.52

Originally founded as a part of Microsoft, Expedia (NASDAQ: EXPE) is one of the world’s leading online travel agencies.

Why Does EXPE Fall Short?

  1. Focus on expanding its platform came at the expense of monetization as its average revenue per booking fell by 1.5% annually
  2. Estimated sales growth of 5.3% for the next 12 months implies demand will slow from its three-year trend
  3. Highly competitive market means it’s on the never-ending treadmill of sales and marketing spend

Expedia is trading at $225.02 per share, or 9x forward EV/EBITDA. Read our free research report to see why you should think twice about including EXPE in your portfolio.

One Stock to Watch:

Toast (TOST)

Rolling One-Year Beta: 1.49

Born from the frustrations of three friends waiting too long for their restaurant bill, Toast (NYSE: TOST) provides a cloud-based digital technology platform with software, payment processing, and hardware solutions built specifically for restaurants.

Why Does TOST Stand Out?

  1. ARR trends over the last year show it’s maintaining a steady flow of long-term contracts that contribute positively to its revenue predictability
  2. Estimated revenue growth of 21% for the next 12 months implies its momentum over the last three years will continue
  3. Operating margin expanded by 7.2 percentage points over the last year as it scaled and became more efficient

At $40 per share, Toast trades at 3.6x forward price-to-sales. Is now a good time to buy? See for yourself in our comprehensive research report, it’s free.

Stocks We Like Even More

Donald Trump’s April 2025 "Liberation Day" tariffs sent markets into a tailspin, but stocks have since rebounded strongly, proving that knee-jerk reactions often create the best buying opportunities.

The smart money is already positioning for the next leg up. Don’t miss out on the recovery - check out our 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-micro-cap company Tecnoglass (+1,754% 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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