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

Spotting Winners: Couchbase (NASDAQ:BASE) And Data Storage Stocks In Q1

BASE Cover Image

As the Q1 earnings season comes to a close, it’s time to take stock of this quarter’s best and worst performers in the data storage industry, including Couchbase (NASDAQ: BASE) and its peers.

Data is the lifeblood of the internet and software in general, and the amount of data created is accelerating. As a result, the importance of storing the data in scalable and efficient formats continues to rise, especially as its diversity and associated use cases expand from analyzing simple, structured datasets to high-scale processing of unstructured data such as images, audio, and video.

The 5 data storage stocks we track reported a very strong Q1. As a group, revenues beat analysts’ consensus estimates by 3.9% while next quarter’s revenue guidance was in line.

Luckily, data storage stocks have performed well with share prices up 30.9% on average since the latest earnings results.

Slowest Q1: Couchbase (NASDAQ: BASE)

Named after its fusion of Apache CouchDB and Membase technologies, Couchbase (NASDAQ: BASE) provides a modern cloud database platform that combines the reliability of traditional relational databases with the flexibility and scalability of NoSQL systems.

Couchbase reported revenues of $56.52 million, up 10.1% year on year. This print exceeded analysts’ expectations by 1.7%. Overall, it was a satisfactory quarter for the company with an impressive beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates but a significant miss of analysts’ billings estimates.

"We had a great start to fiscal 2026, delivering the highest first quarter net new ARR in company history," said Matt Cain, Chair, President and CEO of Couchbase.

Couchbase Total Revenue

Couchbase delivered the slowest revenue growth and weakest full-year guidance update of the whole group. Interestingly, the stock is up 32% since reporting and currently trades at $24.50.

Is now the time to buy Couchbase? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free.

Best Q1: Snowflake (NYSE: SNOW)

Named after the unique architecture of its data warehouse which resembles a snowflake pattern, Snowflake (NYSE: SNOW) provides a cloud-based data platform that enables organizations to consolidate, analyze, and share data across multiple cloud providers.

Snowflake reported revenues of $1.14 billion, up 31.8% year on year, outperforming analysts’ expectations by 4.9%. The business had an exceptional quarter with a solid beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates and an impressive beat of analysts’ billings estimates.

Snowflake Total Revenue

Snowflake delivered the fastest revenue growth among its peers. The company added 48 enterprise customers paying more than $1 million annually to reach a total of 654. The market seems happy with the results as the stock is up 14.2% since reporting. It currently trades at $229.00.

Is now the time to buy Snowflake? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free.

DigitalOcean (NYSE: DOCN)

Built for simplicity in a world of complex cloud solutions, DigitalOcean (NYSE: DOCN) provides a simplified cloud computing platform that enables developers and small businesses to quickly deploy and scale applications.

DigitalOcean reported revenues of $218.7 million, up 13.6% year on year, exceeding analysts’ expectations by 1%. It may have had the worst quarter among its peers, but its results were still good as it also locked in full-year EPS guidance exceeding analysts’ expectations and a solid beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates.

DigitalOcean delivered the weakest performance against analyst estimates in the group. Interestingly, the stock is up 38.8% since the results and currently trades at $37.53.

Read our full analysis of DigitalOcean’s results here.

MongoDB (NASDAQ: MDB)

Named after "humongous database," reflecting its ability to handle massive data loads, MongoDB (NASDAQ: MDB) provides a flexible document-based database platform that helps developers build, deploy, and maintain modern applications more efficiently.

MongoDB reported revenues of $591.4 million, up 23.7% year on year. This result beat analysts’ expectations by 6.8%. Overall, it was a very strong quarter as it also produced a solid beat of analysts’ billings estimates and EPS guidance for next quarter exceeding analysts’ expectations.

MongoDB scored the biggest analyst estimates beat and highest full-year guidance raise among its peers. The company added 58 enterprise customers paying more than $100,000 annually to reach a total of 2,564. The stock is up 51% since reporting and currently trades at $323.75.

Read our full, actionable report on MongoDB here, it’s free.

Commvault (NASDAQ: CVLT)

Born from the need to create ironclad protection in an increasingly dangerous digital world, Commvault (NASDAQ: CVLT) provides data protection and cyber resilience software that helps organizations secure, back up, and recover their data across on-premises, hybrid, and multi-cloud environments.

Commvault reported revenues of $282 million, up 25.5% year on year. This number topped analysts’ expectations by 5.2%. It was a very strong quarter as it also recorded an impressive beat of analysts’ billings estimates and a solid beat of analysts’ annual recurring revenue estimates.

The stock is up 18.4% since reporting and currently trades at $193.72.

Read our full, actionable report on Commvault here, it’s free.

Market Update

As a result of the Fed’s rate hikes in 2022 and 2023, inflation has come down from frothy levels post-pandemic. The general rise in the price of goods and services is trending towards the Fed’s 2% goal as of late, which is good news. The higher rates that fought inflation also didn't slow economic activity enough to catalyze a recession. So far, soft landing. This, combined with recent rate cuts (half a percent in September 2024 and a quarter percent in November 2024) have led to strong stock market performance in 2024. The icing on the cake for 2024 returns was Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. Presidential Election in early November, sending major indices to all-time highs in the week following the election. Still, debates around the health of the economy and the impact of potential tariffs and corporate tax cuts remain, leaving much uncertainty around 2025.

Want to invest in winners with rock-solid fundamentals? Check out our Hidden Gem Stocks and add them to your watchlist. These companies are poised for growth regardless of the political or macroeconomic climate.

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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