AI Is Fast… But Your Copper Wires Are Slower
Think AI is all about GPUs? Think again. The real bottleneck is moving data fast enough. Enter Photonics — sending data at the speed of LIGHT.
Why 2026 Is THE Year for Photonics
$NVDA , $META & $MSFT are ripping out copper, installing 1.6T optical engines, cutting rack energy by 40%.
•Silicon photonics: $2.3B → $17.8B by 2035 (25% CAGR)
•Defense & aerospace photonics are exploding, growing faster than any other segment.
Top Plays
Laser Chips (EMLs)
$LITE – 814% gain in 1 year; S&P 500 March 2026 addition
$COHR – industrial & defense lasers, telecom optics
$POET – Photonics foundry & integrated photonic ICs
Full-Stack Optical / Transceivers
$COHR – $5.8B revenue, Nvidia collaborator
$LWLG – Lasers, modulators & optical components for telecom/datacenters
$QUBT – Quantum photonics startup going public soon
Fiber Lasers / Industrial Photonics
$IPGP – EV battery welding, industrial, medical; medical revenue set to double
$LASR – High-power fiber lasers, industrial & defense niche
$QCLX – Quantum cascade lasers, specialized industrial & defense applications
Contract Manufacturing / Assembly
$FN – Optical contract manufacturer; benefits from volume ramp
$OPTX – Optical packaging, assembly, and photonic integration
Systems / Networking
$CIEN – Coherent photonics & pluggable modules
$INFN – Edge & long-haul disruptor
Test Equipment / Enabling Tech
$AEHR – Wafer-level burn-in & test; 76% YTD
$ATEC / $KEYS – Optical test solutions
Emerging / Disruptor Plays
•Lightmatter – Photonic AI acceleration
•Ayar Labs – Optical engines on substrate; co-packaged optics disruptor
Photonics isn’t niche anymore. It’s core AI infrastructure. From lasers → systems → testing, every layer is a potential hyper-growth story.
