nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Hits New 52-Week High - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• nLight's stock price has hit a new 52-week high of $32.27 during trading, closing at $31.94 with significant trading volume of 252,572 shares.
• Several analysts have issued positive ratings for nLight, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $27.42, reflecting optimism about its growth potential.
• Recent insider sales included the CEO selling over 62,000 shares for approximately $1.94 million, indicating active trading among executives, with insiders holding 4.70% of the stock.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $32.27 and last traded at $31.94, with a volume of 252572 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $31.10.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on LASR. Raymond James Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating on shares of nLight in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of nLight from $12.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Benchmark lifted their price target on shares of nLight from $15.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "speculative buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of nLight from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, September 20th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on shares of nLight from $27.50 to $33.50 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $27.42.

nLight Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 4.41 and a current ratio of 5.63. The company's 50 day moving average price is $27.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.98. The company has a market cap of $1.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -32.47 and a beta of 2.48.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR - Get Free Report) last issued its 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. nLight had a negative net margin of 21.66% and a negative return on equity of 19.12%. The company had revenue of $61.74 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.24 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.10) EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 22.2% compared to the same quarter last year. nLight has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that nLight will post -1.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Trading of nLight

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of LASR. Invenomic Capital Management LP bought a new stake in nLight during the 1st quarter worth approximately $6,763,000. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC increased its stake in nLight by 140.4% during the 1st quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 1,207,580 shares of the company's stock worth $9,383,000 after purchasing an additional 705,215 shares in the last quarter. AIGH Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in nLight during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $11,810,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new stake in nLight during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,778,000. Finally, AWM Investment Company Inc. increased its stake in nLight by 29.5% during the 1st quarter. AWM Investment Company Inc. now owns 1,319,917 shares of the company's stock worth $10,256,000 after purchasing an additional 300,924 shares in the last quarter. 83.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

nLight Company Profile

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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