nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to "Hold"

Key Points

• nLight's rating was downgraded from "buy" to "hold" by Wall Street Zen, a significant change in analyst outlook for the company.
• Despite the downgrade, various analysts have set new price targets for nLight, with Craig Hallum increasing their target from $14 to $24, and Needham & Company raising theirs from $18 to $28.
• The company's quarterly earnings report showed a profit of $0.06 per share, surpassing expectations and reflecting a 22.2% increase in revenue year-over-year.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued on Friday.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on LASR. Craig Hallum restated a "buy" rating and set a $24.00 target price (up from $14.00) on shares of nLight in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on nLight from $27.50 to $33.50 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of nLight in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Raymond James Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating on shares of nLight in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on shares of nLight from $18.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $27.42.

nLight Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LASR traded down $0.25 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $30.85. 706,725 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 857,707. The firm has a market cap of $1.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -32.47 and a beta of 2.48. nLight has a twelve month low of $6.20 and a twelve month high of $32.27. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.13. The company has a quick ratio of 4.41, a current ratio of 5.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.15. The company had revenue of $61.74 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.24 million. nLight had a negative net margin of 21.66% and a negative return on equity of 19.12%. The firm's revenue was up 22.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.10) earnings per share. nLight has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that nLight will post -1.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other nLight news, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 38,284 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.29, for a total value of $1,083,054.36. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 273,118 shares in the company, valued at $7,726,508.22. The trade was a 12.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 62,507 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.99, for a total value of $1,937,091.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,319,038 shares in the company, valued at $71,866,987.62. This represents a 2.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 374,980 shares of company stock worth $10,650,501 over the last quarter. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of nLight by 12.9% in the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 4,911 shares of the company's stock worth $97,000 after acquiring an additional 561 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of nLight by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 17,988 shares of the company's stock worth $354,000 after acquiring an additional 723 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in nLight by 147.6% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,550 shares of the company's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 924 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in nLight by 4.4% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 27,593 shares of the company's stock worth $214,000 after purchasing an additional 1,170 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in nLight by 162.4% during the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,747 shares of the company's stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 1,700 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.88% of the company's stock.

About nLight

nLIGHT, Inc designs, develops, manufactures, and sells semiconductor and fiber lasers for industrial, microfabrication, and aerospace and defense applications. The company operates in two segments, Laser Products and Advanced Development. It offers semiconductor lasers with various ranges of power levels, wavelengths, and output fiber sizes; and programmable and serviceable fiber lasers for use in industrial and aerospace and defense applications.

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