One-glance verdict
Overvalued
$10.21 our estimate vs market $38.56
Wall Street consensus: $88.86 (770.1% higher than our fair-value estimate)
278% above our estimate, beyond the bull case
Fundamentals snapshot
nLIGHT, Inc.
LASR · NMS · Technology · Semiconductors
Current price
$38.56
52-week range
$27.79 - $86.95
Market cap
$2.22B
Balance sheet
Healthy
-22.33x Concerning
Net cash $315.60M. Interest coverage shows how many times profit covers the interest bill.
What stands out
2 Rewards
1 Risk
2 rewards · 1 risks
- Reward Revenue grew 18.9% last year.
- Reward Free cash flow was positive in 3/10 years.
- Risk Return on equity was -3.8% last year — the company lost money on shareholders' equity.
What this company does
nLIGHT, Inc.
nLIGHT creates high-power lasers that are essential tools for precise cutting and building in industries like aerospace, defense, and microfabrication (making tiny electronic parts). Most of its revenue (money from sales) comes from selling these laser systems directly to large industrial and government customers. This means the company's health often depends on the project spending and supply chain (the network of companies involved in creating and delivering a product) of these major global players.
How the company got here
nLIGHT was founded in 2000 by a group of engineers aiming to be a leader in high-power laser technology. A key part of their strategy from the beginning was vertical integration (controlling the manufacturing process from the basic components to the finished product), which helps them innovate quickly and control costs. The company went public with an initial public offering (IPO) in 2018, which means its shares became available for anyone to buy on the stock market. A major turning point was the 2022 acquisition of a company called Nutronics, which deepened its expertise in lasers for military and defense applications, a market the company is increasingly focused on.
What it actually does
nLIGHT creates and builds very powerful and precise lasers. Think of these not as laser pointers, but as high-tech tools that other companies build into their larger systems. These lasers are used for tasks like cutting and welding metals in factories, creating tiny electronic components, and for military applications like laser weapon systems. The company makes everything from the tiny semiconductor chips that create the laser light to the complete, packaged laser systems.
Laser Products
This is the company's main business, generating the majority of its revenue. In this segment, nLIGHT sells its finished laser products to other companies. These customers then integrate the lasers into their own equipment for things like industrial manufacturing (cutting and welding), microfabrication (making very small, precise things), and for aerospace and defense systems. This part of the business includes both the tiny semiconductor lasers and the larger, more complex fiber laser systems.
Advanced Development
This segment is like a research and development shop that gets paid by others, primarily the U.S. government and defense contractors. Instead of selling a finished product off the shelf, this division works on contracts to design and prototype the next generation of laser technology. Much of this work is focused on directed energy, which includes creating high-energy lasers for defense purposes. While it's a smaller part of the company's revenue, the technology developed here can often be used in the Laser Products segment later on.
What management is betting on now
The company is heavily focused on expanding its business in the aerospace and defense sector. Management sees a big opportunity in providing high-energy lasers for military uses, such as defense systems against drones and missiles, an area known as directed energy. They are also working to increase the use of their lasers in advanced manufacturing techniques, like 3D printing with metal. A key part of their strategy is to strengthen their U.S.-based manufacturing, which they believe is an advantage for both their industrial and defense customers.
Price history
How the share price has moved
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Loading price history…
Earnings history
Last 8 quarters — what happened
Click any quarter to read the call summary and what the numbers say.
FY2024 Q3
$-7.23M
FY2024 Q4
$-6.51M
FY2025 Q1
$-2.30M
FY2025 Q2
$-3.78M
FY2025 Q3
$2.45M
FY2025 Q4
$15.93M
FY2026 Q1
$7.57M
FY2026 Q2
$15.88M
Revenue
$82.59M
Net income
$-1.34M
Diluted EPS
-0.02
Operating cash flow
$20.73M
Free cash flow
$15.88M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$80.18M
Net income
$645.00K
Diluted EPS
0.01
Operating cash flow
$9.68M
Free cash flow
$7.57M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$81.19M
Net income
$-4.91M
Diluted EPS
-0.10
Operating cash flow
$17.52M
Free cash flow
$15.93M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$66.74M
Net income
$-6.87M
Diluted EPS
-0.14
Operating cash flow
$5.22M
Free cash flow
$2.45M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$61.73M
Net income
$-3.59M
Diluted EPS
-0.07
Operating cash flow
$-1.39M
Free cash flow
$-3.78M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$51.67M
Net income
$-8.09M
Diluted EPS
-0.16
Operating cash flow
$-20.00K
Free cash flow
$-2.30M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$47.38M
Net income
$-24.96M
Diluted EPS
-0.52
Operating cash flow
$-3.89M
Free cash flow
$-6.51M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$56.13M
Net income
$-10.34M
Diluted EPS
-0.21
Operating cash flow
$-5.62M
Free cash flow
$-7.23M
Fetching…
Sources
Is it cheap or expensive?
Fair value $10.21 vs current price $38.56
Wall Street consensus is the average analyst price target: $88.86 (770.1% higher than our fair-value estimate).
Our most-likely fair value is $10.21 a share — about 73.5% below today's price of $38.56, so the stock currently looks expensive (overvalued).
Is it drowning in debt?
Healthy
Net cash $315.6M - more cash than debt. Interest coverage -22.3x.
Net debt
$-315.60M
Interest coverage
-22.33x
nLIGHT, Inc.'s profit covers its interest bill about 0.0 times over. which is weaker than most peers shown here and 1 peers sit below 1x, which is the danger zone where profit does not fully cover the interest bill.
Healthy
Worse cushion
Baseline
Better cushion
LASR
BASELINE
nLIGHT, Inc.
Total debt $14.84M Interest coverage -22.33x This is the baseline the peer rows are being compared against.
Total debt $16.25M Interest coverage 0.77x This peer still has a real interest-payment cushion, while LASR does not.
Total debt $3.55B Interest coverage 4.74x This peer still has a real interest-payment cushion, while LASR does not.
Total debt $1.67B Interest coverage 24.60x This peer still has a real interest-payment cushion, while LASR does not.
Total debt $285.60M Interest coverage 5.43x This peer still has a real interest-payment cushion, while LASR does not.
What you should know
The case for and against LASR
2 Rewards
1 Risk
Rewards
-
Revenue grew 18.9% last year.
-
Free cash flow was positive in 3/10 years.
Risks
-
Return on equity was -3.8% last year — the company lost money on shareholders' equity.
The numbers
All the key metrics, grouped by purpose
Tap any ? icon to learn what it means.
Valuation
How expensive the stock looks
P/E (TTM)
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Forward P/E
61.21x
P/B
5.05x
P/S
7.16x
EV/EBITDA
-4,052.93x
PEG ratio
1.78x
Profitability
How much profit each dollar creates
Gross margin
31.5%
Operating margin
-4.3%
Net margin
-4.0%
ROE
-3.8%
ROA
-2.2%
Health
Liquidity and balance-sheet strength
Debt / equity
0.03x
Current ratio
8.17x
Quick ratio
7.18x
Total debt
$14.84M
Total cash
$330.45M
Growth
How the business has been compounding
Revenue TTM
$310.70M
Revenue 5Y CAGR
-0.8%
EPS TTM
-0.24
EPS 5Y CAGR
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Cash flow
How much cash the business throws off
Operating CF TTM
$53.15M
Free CF TTM
$12.30M
FCF margin
4.0%
Dividend
Shareholder payout
Yield
—
Payout ratio
0.0%
Last ex-div date
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