# nLIGHT (LASR.US)

Canonical: https://gigainvestors.com/s/LASR

Analysis as of: 2026-10-16T07:29:45.315Z. Financial observations: FY2017–FY2026.

Listing currency: USD. Reporting currency: USD.

## Verdict

Not a wonderful business

Quality tests for Buy: not passed (profit record: fail; earnings resilience is evidence only). Published buy qualification: no.

Share price: $35.48 per share; close as of 2026-10-15.

## Checklist

### understandable: fail

- 4 revenue declines in the last 10 years (informational)

- more than 2 net loss years

- negative average operating margin

- operating margin variation exceeds 0.35

- Financial history: 10 years

- Years with declining revenue: 4

- Years with a net loss: 8

- Operating margin variation: 1.19×

Chart: Operating margin; fiscal year observations.

- FY2017: 0.07×

- FY2018: 0.09×

- FY2019: -0.06×

- FY2020: -0.09×

- FY2021: -0.11×

- FY2022: -0.23×

- FY2023: -0.22×

- FY2024: -0.33×

- FY2025: -0.10×

- LTM to Jun 2026: -0.05×

### moat: fail

- ROIC median below threshold

- ROIC worst years below threshold (more than 1 bad year allowed)

- ROIC, median of available years: -14.5%

- ROIC, second-lowest year: -26.2%

- Typical minus recent gross margin: -0.7 pp

- Typical gross margin (annual median): 29.1%

- Recent gross margin (lower of latest and 3-year median): 29.8%

- Years with nonpositive capital: 0

- Capital spending / revenue: 5.2%

- ROIC including acquisitions, ten-year median: -16.6%

Chart: ROIC excluding acquisitions; fiscal year observations.

- FY2017: 15.7%

- FY2018: 20.2%

- FY2019: -8.7%

- FY2020: -14.1%

- FY2021: -14.8%

- FY2022: -26.2%

- FY2023: -25.8%

- FY2024: -44.9%

- FY2025: -17.9%

- LTM to Jun 2026: -9.0%

### economics: fail

- owner earnings cash conversion below threshold

- incremental invested capital return below threshold

- Cash conversion uses consolidated totals: No

- Owner earnings, five-year total: -$168M

- Net income, five-year total: -$193M

- Return on incremental invested capital: -49.0%

- Working capital / revenue, annual change: 0.1 pp

- Working capital / revenue, change between three-year averages: -0.8 pp

- Working capital / revenue, final three-year average: 27.4%

Chart: Owner earnings · five years; fiscal year observations.

- FY2022: -$61M

- FY2023: -$31M

- FY2024: -$51M

- FY2025: -$18M

- LTM to Jun 2026: -$7.4M

### management: fail

- Historical market-dollar context (not the management verdict): 2018 to 2025 (7 years)

- potential debt-funded buybacks (informational)

- buybacks unrelated to price (informational)

- ROIC first 3 years vs last 3 years: 15.7% vs -25.8%

- Per-share earnings: 0.07 to -0.90 (three-year endpoint medians)

- per-share value declined or ends nonpositive

- Management verdict uses per-share economic progress: Yes

- Ordinary dilution, 5-year annual growth: 5.4%

- Market cap gain: $1.3B

- Cumulative retained earnings: -$244M

- Diluted shares, 5-year annual growth: 5.4%

- $1 test, starting fiscal year: FY2018

- $1 test, ending fiscal year: FY2025

- Per-share value change: -$0.98

- Per-share value, starting three-year median: $0.07

- Per-share value, ending three-year median: -$0.90

- Buybacks concentrated in cheaper years (correlation): -0.80

- Average buyback yield: 0.6%

- Buyback history: 5 years

- Debt-funded buybacks: Yes

- ROIC, first three-year median: 15.7%

- ROIC, last three-year median: -25.8%

Chart: Earnings per share; fiscal year observations.

- FY2017: $0.07

- FY2018: $0.47

- FY2019: -$0.35

- FY2020: -$0.55

- FY2021: -$0.70

- FY2022: -$1.23

- FY2023: -$0.90

- FY2024: -$1.27

- FY2025: -$0.47

### accounting: fail

- restructuring or one-time charges in at least three of five years

- stock compensation exceeds 15% of operating cash flow

- Sloan accruals: -14.1%

- Receivables to sales index (DSRI): 1.11×

- Restructuring years, last five: 4

- Stock compensation / operating cash flow: 156.6%

- Earnings backed by cash: Yes

- Accounting red flags: 2

- Goodwill and intangibles / equity: 0.05×

Chart: Sloan accruals; fiscal year observations.

- FY2017: -1.4%

- FY2018: 4.2%

- FY2019: -3.5%

- FY2020: -12.0%

- FY2021: -5.9%

- FY2022: -12.2%

- FY2023: -16.9%

- FY2024: -21.6%

- FY2025: -14.1%

## Holders

- [Lee Ainslie](https://gigainvestors.com/mc): tracked 13F investor; follow the investor page for holding quarter and amounts.

- [Dan Davidowitz](https://gigainvestors.com/pcm): tracked 13F investor; follow the investor page for holding quarter and amounts.

## Price story

Down 52% since May 2026 · sales +18.9%

Story as of 2026-10-16T09:59:03.087Z; price observation 2026-10-15.

- 2025-11-07: LASR Q3 Deep Dive: Defense Demand and New Contracts Drive Strong Results, Margin Expansion ([finance.yahoo.com](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/lasr-q3-deep-dive-defense-141628914.html))

- 2026-05-08: nLight Shares Rise 15% on Q1 Earnings Beat, Revenues Up Y/Y ([finance.yahoo.com](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/nlight-shares-rise-15-q1-161700097.html))

### Sales · FY2025–2026

sales +18.9%; source https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1124796/000112479626000012/lasr-20251231.htm; observed 2026-02-27.

- FY2017: $139M 

- FY2018: $191M 

- FY2019: $177M 

- FY2020: $223M 

- FY2021: $270M 

- FY2022: $242M 

- FY2023: $210M 

- FY2024: $199M 

- FY2025: $261M 

- FY2026: $311M 

### Gross margin · FY2026

gross margin 31.5%; source https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1124796/000112479626000012/lasr-20251231.htm; observed 2026-02-27.

- FY2017: 31.9% 

- FY2018: 35.0% 

- FY2019: 29.6% 

- FY2020: 26.6% 

- FY2021: 28.6% 

- FY2022: 21.0% 

- FY2023: 22.0% 

- FY2024: 16.6% 

- FY2025: 29.8% 

- FY2026: 31.5% 

## Owner memo

Memo as of 2026-10-16T08:06:05.509Z.

### How it makes money

Operates in semiconductors; annual sales are USD 261.3 million.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1124796/000112479626000012/lasr-20251231.htm (filed 2026-02-27); FY2025: revenue 261330000; grossProfit 77963000; margin = grossProfit / revenue.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-15); LASR.US: nLIGHT, Inc. engages in the design, development, manufacture, and sale of semiconductor and fiber lasers for aerospace and defense, industrial, and microfabrication applications. It operates through two segments, Laser Products and Advanced Development. The company offers semiconductor lasers with various ranges of power levels, wavelengths, and output fiber sizes; and programmable and serviceable fiber lasers for use in aerospace and defense and industrial applications. It also provides fiber amplifiers, beam combination, and control systems for use in high-energy laser systems in directed energy applications. The company sells its products through direct sales force in the United States, China, South Korea, and European countries, as well as through independent sales representatives and distributors in Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, and South America. The company was formerly known as nLight Photonics Corporation and changed its name to nLIGHT, Inc. in January 2016. nLIGHT, Inc. was incorporated in 2000 and is headquartered in Camas, Washington.

### Why customers stay

Margins ranged from 16.6% to 29.8% during 2023–25; it lost 14.5% on its capital.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-27); FY2023: grossProfit / revenue = 22%.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-27); FY2024: grossProfit / revenue = 16.6%.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1124796/000112479626000012/lasr-20251231.htm (filed 2026-02-27); FY2025: grossProfit / revenue = 29.8%.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-27); 10-year return on capital observations [[2017,0.15655604719764013],[2018,0.20231403114949195],[2019,-0.08743072541464232],[2020,-0.14068209315114852],[2021,-0.1484015616354899],[2022,-0.2624505914555474],[2023,-0.2578221456136556],[2024,-0.44889223630445324],[2025,-0.1794609625668449],[2026,-0.08999078875545852]]; median -0.14454182739331922. ROIC follows the displayed moat series; financial companies use return on tangible equity.

### Where the cash goes

Paid dividends in 3 of 9 years.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-27); FY2017: growth capex 0; upkeep 5483000; cash acquisitions 0; owner earnings 4276000. Growth capex plus acquisitions / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-27); FY2018: growth capex 3426000; upkeep 8288000; cash acquisitions 0; owner earnings 13938000. Growth capex plus acquisitions / owner earnings = 0.2458028411536806.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-27); Dividend observations: [[2017,0],[2018,0],[2019,2507000],[2020,3652000],[2021,10606000],[2022,0],[2023,0],[2024,0],[2025,0]]. Zero only counted when supported by a complete cash-flow statement.

### Are managers owners

Insiders own 2.5% of the company.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-15); LASR.US SharesStats.PercentInsiders = 2.453 percentage points; cache date 2026-10-15.

### What the price says

The price is 6.8 times annual sales; cash earnings are negative.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-27); Closing price 35.48 USD; reporting-to-trading FX 1; FY2025 annual sales per share 5.228796094359631; price multiple 6.7855007844487805. FY2025 cash earnings/share -0.3649932971848176. Closing-price date 2026-10-15.

## Monthly share-price history (USD per share)

- 2018-04: $24.93 per share

- 2018-05: $37.15 per share

- 2018-06: $33.06 per share

- 2018-07: $30.53 per share

- 2018-08: $30.81 per share

- 2018-09: $22.21 per share

- 2018-10: $17.84 per share

- 2018-11: $19.10 per share

- 2018-12: $17.78 per share

- 2019-01: $19.55 per share

- 2019-02: $21.39 per share

- 2019-03: $22.28 per share

- 2019-04: $26.13 per share

- 2019-05: $18.69 per share

- 2019-06: $19.20 per share

- 2019-07: $16.44 per share

- 2019-08: $12.92 per share

- 2019-09: $15.66 per share

- 2019-10: $13.36 per share

- 2019-11: $19.93 per share

- 2019-12: $20.28 per share

- 2020-01: $17.57 per share

- 2020-02: $16.51 per share

- 2020-03: $10.49 per share

- 2020-04: $15.76 per share

- 2020-05: $21.56 per share

- 2020-06: $22.26 per share

- 2020-07: $23.17 per share

- 2020-08: $23.36 per share

- 2020-09: $23.48 per share

- 2020-10: $21.24 per share

- 2020-11: $30.02 per share

- 2020-12: $32.65 per share

- 2021-01: $31.68 per share

- 2021-02: $38.12 per share

- 2021-03: $32.40 per share

- 2021-04: $29.34 per share

- 2021-05: $29.32 per share

- 2021-06: $36.28 per share

- 2021-07: $34.69 per share

- 2021-08: $27.61 per share

- 2021-09: $28.19 per share

- 2021-10: $28.12 per share

- 2021-11: $24.89 per share

- 2021-12: $23.95 per share

- 2022-01: $20.69 per share

- 2022-02: $16.30 per share

- 2022-03: $17.34 per share

- 2022-04: $13.15 per share

- 2022-05: $12.27 per share

- 2022-06: $10.22 per share

- 2022-07: $12.26 per share

- 2022-08: $12.49 per share

- 2022-09: $9.45 per share

- 2022-10: $10.77 per share

- 2022-11: $10.86 per share

- 2022-12: $10.14 per share

- 2023-01: $12.40 per share

- 2023-02: $11.30 per share

- 2023-03: $10.18 per share

- 2023-04: $8.77 per share

- 2023-05: $14.46 per share

- 2023-06: $15.42 per share

- 2023-07: $14.40 per share

- 2023-08: $11.41 per share

- 2023-09: $10.40 per share

- 2023-10: $8.33 per share

- 2023-11: $13.22 per share

- 2023-12: $13.50 per share

- 2024-01: $12.98 per share

- 2024-02: $13.23 per share

- 2024-03: $13.00 per share

- 2024-04: $11.39 per share

- 2024-05: $13.15 per share

- 2024-06: $10.93 per share

- 2024-07: $12.07 per share

- 2024-08: $11.94 per share

- 2024-09: $10.69 per share

- 2024-10: $12.48 per share

- 2024-11: $10.86 per share

- 2024-12: $10.49 per share

- 2025-01: $11.17 per share

- 2025-02: $9.17 per share

- 2025-03: $7.77 per share

- 2025-04: $7.71 per share

- 2025-05: $15.13 per share

- 2025-06: $19.68 per share

- 2025-07: $21.01 per share

- 2025-08: $28.80 per share

- 2025-09: $29.63 per share

- 2025-10: $33.01 per share

- 2025-11: $35.23 per share

- 2025-12: $37.51 per share

- 2026-01: $45.61 per share

- 2026-02: $56.19 per share

- 2026-03: $57.02 per share

- 2026-04: $69.85 per share

- 2026-05: $74.12 per share

- 2026-06: $69.62 per share

- 2026-07: $68.80 per share

- 2026-08: $42.27 per share

- 2026-09: $38.95 per share

- 2026-10: $35.48 per share

## Annual estimated value (USD per share)

Historical values use today's bond yield for every fiscal year

Historical values use today's FX rate into trading currency for every fiscal year

Historical values use current restated fundamentals and current commodity classification; they are not point-in-time estimates

## Sources

[Original 10-K filing](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1124796/000112479626000012/lasr-20251231.htm); period 2025-12-31, filed 2026-02-27.

Estimates depend on assumptions and are not guarantees or investment advice. Underlying data remains subject to its source licenses; public reading does not grant bulk redistribution rights.