What Happened?
Shares of materials and photonics company Coherent (NYSE: COHR) jumped 1.1% in the afternoon session after JPMorgan raised its price target on the stock to $215, prompting investor optimism. The bank cited significant growth potential for the company. The move also followed Coherent's launch of a new 300mm silicon carbide platform. This technology was designed to meet the increasing need for better cooling efficiency in artificial intelligence (AI) data centers. Additionally, the new platform bolstered technologies used in other advanced electronics, including augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) devices.
After the initial pop the shares cooled down to $182.30, up 2.2% from previous close.
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What Is The Market Telling Us
Coherent’s shares are extremely volatile and have had 47 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 3 days ago when the stock dropped 9.3% on the news that investors rotated out of AI-linked high-flyers following underwhelming earnings updates from Oracle and Broadcom as the core thesis shifted from "growth at any cost" to "prove the returns.". Oracle triggered the alarm by missing revenue estimates while simultaneously hiking capital expenditures by $15 billion. This reignited fears that AI infrastructure spending is outpacing actual monetization. Broadcom compounded the anxiety; despite beating earnings, its stock fell as CFO Kirsten Spears cautioned that gross margins may come under pressure as product mix shifts further toward system-level AI sales. This sparked a macro rotation away from AI infrastructure and power plays.
Coherent is up 81.2% since the beginning of the year, and at $182.30 per share, it is trading close to its 52-week high of $198.50 from December 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Coherent’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $2,475.
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