Latest news with #ScottKeeney
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
LASR Q1 Earnings Call: Defense Growth Drives Results Amid Tariff Uncertainty
Laser company nLIGHT (NASDAQ:LASR) reported revenue ahead of Wall Street's expectations in Q1 CY2025, with sales up 16% year on year to $51.67 million. On top of that, next quarter's revenue guidance ($56 million at the midpoint) was surprisingly good and 11.7% above what analysts were expecting. Its non-GAAP loss of $0.04 per share was 78.7% above analysts' consensus estimates. Is now the time to buy LASR? Find out in our full research report (it's free). Revenue: $51.67 million vs analyst estimates of $47.34 million (16% year-on-year growth, 9.1% beat) Adjusted EPS: -$0.04 vs analyst estimates of -$0.19 (78.7% beat) Adjusted EBITDA: $116,000 vs analyst estimates of -$5.14 million (0.2% margin, significant beat) Revenue Guidance for Q2 CY2025 is $56 million at the midpoint, above analyst estimates of $50.15 million EBITDA guidance for the full year is -$1.5 million at the midpoint, above analyst estimates of -$11.98 million Operating Margin: -18.6%, up from -33.1% in the same quarter last year Market Capitalization: $871.6 million nLIGHT's first quarter results were shaped by continued momentum in the aerospace and defense segment, which management said accounted for over 60% of total sales, up sharply from the prior year. CEO Scott Keeney highlighted that growth was 'primarily driven by another quarter of record defense revenue,' with particular strength in directed energy laser programs. The ongoing HEL-TD program, a Department of Defense initiative for a one-megawatt high-energy laser, was a significant contributor to this performance. Keeney also pointed to stabilization in microfabrication operations as a factor supporting modest sequential improvement in commercial sales, though underlying demand in these markets remains challenged. Management emphasized the benefits of nLIGHT's vertical integration, which enables efficient production and delivery of high-power laser systems for defense customers. Looking ahead, nLIGHT's positive revenue outlook is anchored by management's expectation for continued expansion in aerospace and defense. Keeney stated, 'The solid start to the year combined with our growing pipeline of both directed energy programs and laser sensing opportunities gives me increased confidence that we can grow our revenue in aerospace and defense by at least 25% in 2025.' CFO Joe Corso outlined that further sequential growth is anticipated in the second quarter, while commercial segments are expected to remain weak. Management acknowledged uncertainty surrounding tariffs, especially regarding input costs in the commercial business, but does not forecast a significant negative impact to defense margins in the near term. The company's ability to shift production between U.S. and Thai facilities was cited as a mitigating factor. Management attributed first quarter results to a surge in defense product sales, progress on major U.S. and international programs, and operational flexibility in response to global trade developments. Defense sales acceleration: The defense business, particularly directed energy lasers for military applications, drove revenue growth, with management noting more than 50% year-over-year expansion in defense product sales. This was largely fueled by shipments for the HEL-TD high-energy laser program, which remains on track for completion in 2026. Pipeline expansion in laser sensing: The company reported that laser sensing products—used in missile guidance, range finding, and countermeasures—continue to gain traction. nLIGHT has bid on multiple new programs, increasing both the number and size of opportunities in this segment. U.S. and international program momentum: Management highlighted ongoing work supporting the U.S. Department of Defense, including the Golden Dome executive order and the Army's DEM SHORAD initiative. Internationally, nLIGHT continues to supply technology for Israel's Iron Beam system and is building a pipeline with foreign allies. Commercial market stabilization: While industrial and microfabrication markets remain soft, the company cited stabilization at its Thai contract manufacturer as a driver for sequential improvement in commercial sales. Management does not expect a near-term recovery in these markets. Tariff mitigation strategies: Management addressed heightened tariff risks, especially for commercial lasers with input costs from China. The company has shifted production away from Shanghai to the U.S. and Thailand, aiming to reduce direct tariff exposure. While short-term defense margins may fluctuate, management does not anticipate material long-term impact from tariffs on defense demand or profitability. nLIGHT's outlook is shaped by ongoing strength in defense programs, margin sensitivity to tariffs, and persistent softness in non-defense markets. Defense pipeline and program execution: Management expects continued sequential growth from defense contracts, citing high visibility on funded programs such as HEL-TD and DEM SHORAD. The pipeline of new opportunities, including classified and international projects, is expected to drive at least 25% revenue growth in aerospace and defense for the year. Tariff-related margin risk: While management believes tariff exposure is limited for defense products, they acknowledged potential headwinds for commercial gross margins if high tariffs on Chinese inputs persist or escalate. The company's ability to shift manufacturing to Thailand and the U.S. is expected to reduce, but not eliminate, risk. Commercial segment headwinds: Weak demand in industrial and microfabrication markets is expected to continue throughout the year. Management does not anticipate a near-term recovery and sees incremental risk from tariffs potentially affecting customer demand and material costs. In the coming quarters, the StockStory team will be monitoring (1) execution against major defense programs and the pace of new contract wins, (2) gross margin trends as the company navigates shifting tariff policies, and (3) any evidence of stabilization or renewed growth in commercial and microfabrication markets. Progress on international defense contracts and the impact of manufacturing shifts will also be critical markers for nLIGHT's performance. nLIGHT currently trades at a forward price-to-sales ratio of 3.8×. At this valuation, is it a buy or sell post earnings? See for yourself in our full research report (it's free). The market surged in 2024 and reached record highs after Donald Trump's presidential victory in November, but questions about new economic policies are adding much uncertainty for 2025. While the crowd speculates what might happen next, we're homing in on the companies that can succeed regardless of the political or macroeconomic environment. Put yourself in the driver's seat and build a durable portfolio by checking out our Top 6 Stocks for this week. This is a curated list of our High Quality stocks that have generated a market-beating return of 183% over the last five years (as of March 31st 2025). Stocks that made our list in 2020 include now familiar names such as Nvidia (+1,545% between March 2020 and March 2025) as well as under-the-radar businesses like the once-small-cap company Exlservice (+354% five-year return). Find your next big winner with StockStory today.
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Electronic Components Stocks Q4 Teardown: nLIGHT (NASDAQ:LASR) Vs The Rest
Looking back on electronic components stocks' Q4 earnings, we examine this quarter's best and worst performers, including nLIGHT (NASDAQ:LASR) and its peers. Like many equipment and component manufacturers, electronic components companies are buoyed by secular trends such as connectivity and industrial automation. More specific pockets of strong demand include data centers and telecommunications, which can benefit companies whose optical and transceiver offerings fit those markets. But like the broader industrials sector, these companies are also at the whim of economic cycles. Consumer spending, for example, can greatly impact these companies' volumes. The 10 electronic components stocks we track reported a mixed Q4. As a group, revenues beat analysts' consensus estimates by 3.1% while next quarter's revenue guidance was 0.8% below. Amidst this news, share prices of the companies have had a rough stretch. On average, they are down 9.9% since the latest earnings results. Founded by a former CEO and Harvard-educated entrepreneur Scott Keeneyn, nLIGHT (NASDAQ:LASR) offers semiconductor and fiber lasers to the industrial, aerospace & defense, and medical sectors. nLIGHT reported revenues of $47.38 million, down 8.7% year on year. This print fell short of analysts' expectations by 3.7%. Overall, it was a slower quarter for the company with a significant miss of analysts' EBITDA and EPS estimates. '2024 was a transformative year for nLIGHT as our defense business began to scale, with revenue growing 20% year-over-year to $110 million and representing approximately 55% of our overall sales,' commented Scott Keeney, nLIGHT's President and Chief Executive Officer. nLIGHT delivered the weakest performance against analyst estimates of the whole group. The stock is down 14.6% since reporting and currently trades at $7.75. Read our full report on nLIGHT here, it's free. Pioneering technologies for radio frequency power delivery, Advanced Energy (NASDAQ:AEIS) provides power supplies, thermal management systems, and measurement and control instruments for various manufacturing processes. Advanced Energy reported revenues of $415.4 million, up 2.5% year on year, outperforming analysts' expectations by 5.5%. The business had an exceptional quarter with an impressive beat of analysts' EBITDA estimates. Although it had a fine quarter compared to its peers, the market seems unhappy with the results as the stock is down 16% since reporting. It currently trades at $93.39. Is now the time to buy Advanced Energy? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it's free. Emerging from Vishay Intertechnology in 2010, Vishay Precision (NYSE:VPG) operates as a global provider of precision measurement and sensing technologies. Vishay Precision reported revenues of $72.65 million, down 18.8% year on year, falling short of analysts' expectations by 1.3%. It was a disappointing quarter as it posted a significant miss of analysts' EBITDA and EPS estimates. Vishay Precision delivered the slowest revenue growth in the group. The stock is flat since the results and currently trades at $24.20. Read our full analysis of Vishay Precision's results here. The developer of the first blade-type automotive fuse, Littelfuse (NASDAQ:LFUS) provides electrical protection and control components for the automotive, industrial, electronics, and telecommunications industries. Littelfuse reported revenues of $529.5 million, flat year on year. This result beat analysts' expectations by 1%. However, it was a slower quarter as it produced EPS guidance for next quarter missing analysts' expectations and a miss of analysts' EBITDA estimates. The stock is down 10.5% since reporting and currently trades at $200.36. Read our full, actionable report on Littelfuse here, it's free. Founded by a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Vicor (NASDAQ:VICR) provides electrical power conversion and delivery products for a range of industries. Vicor reported revenues of $96.17 million, up 3.8% year on year. This number surpassed analysts' expectations by 5.6%. Overall, it was a strong quarter as it also put up an impressive beat of analysts' EPS estimates. The stock is down 7.6% since reporting and currently trades at $47.91. Read our full, actionable report on Vicor here, it's free. Want to invest in winners with rock-solid fundamentals? Check out our Top 6 Stocks and add them to your watchlist. These companies are poised for growth regardless of the political or macroeconomic climate. Join Paid Stock Investor Research Help us make StockStory more helpful to investors like yourself. Join our paid user research session and receive a $50 Amazon gift card for your opinions. Sign up here. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
With 78% ownership, nLIGHT, Inc. (NASDAQ:LASR) boasts of strong institutional backing
Given the large stake in the stock by institutions, nLIGHT's stock price might be vulnerable to their trading decisions 50% of the business is held by the top 11 shareholders Insiders have been selling lately If you want to know who really controls nLIGHT, Inc. (NASDAQ:LASR), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are institutions with 78% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk). Because institutional owners have a huge pool of resources and liquidity, their investing decisions tend to carry a great deal of weight, especially with individual investors. Therefore, a good portion of institutional money invested in the company is usually a huge vote of confidence on its future. Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about nLIGHT. See our latest analysis for nLIGHT Institutions typically measure themselves against a benchmark when reporting to their own investors, so they often become more enthusiastic about a stock once it's included in a major index. We would expect most companies to have some institutions on the register, especially if they are growing. We can see that nLIGHT does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. This implies the analysts working for those institutions have looked at the stock and they like it. But just like anyone else, they could be wrong. It is not uncommon to see a big share price drop if two large institutional investors try to sell out of a stock at the same time. So it is worth checking the past earnings trajectory of nLIGHT, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too. Since institutional investors own more than half the issued stock, the board will likely have to pay attention to their preferences. It would appear that 5.1% of nLIGHT shares are controlled by hedge funds. That's interesting, because hedge funds can be quite active and activist. Many look for medium term catalysts that will drive the share price higher. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is BlackRock, Inc. with 8.0% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 7.4% and 5.9% of the stock. Additionally, the company's CEO Scott Keeney directly holds 2.3% of the total shares outstanding. Looking at the shareholder registry, we can see that 50% of the ownership is controlled by the top 11 shareholders, meaning that no single shareholder has a majority interest in the ownership. Researching institutional ownership is a good way to gauge and filter a stock's expected performance. The same can be achieved by studying analyst sentiments. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too. While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. The company management answer to the board and the latter should represent the interests of shareholders. Notably, sometimes top-level managers are on the board themselves. Insider ownership is positive when it signals leadership are thinking like the true owners of the company. However, high insider ownership can also give immense power to a small group within the company. This can be negative in some circumstances. Shareholders would probably be interested to learn that insiders own shares in nLIGHT, Inc.. It has a market capitalization of just US$501m, and insiders have US$19m worth of shares, in their own names. It is good to see some investment by insiders, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying. The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 13% stake in nLIGHT. This size of ownership, while considerable, may not be enough to change company policy if the decision is not in sync with other large shareholders. While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 1 warning sign with nLIGHT , and understanding them should be part of your investment process. Ultimately the future is most important. You can access this free report on analyst forecasts for the company. NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Sign in to access your portfolio
