Coherent saw multiple Wall Street analyst price target hikes following earnings results, with Needham calling it a 'major AI infrastructure beneficiary.'
Coherent Corp. (COHR) drew a wave of price target hikes from Wall Street analysts following the company's stronger-than-expected fourth quarter results and upbeat forward guidance.
Analysts at Needham, Raymond James, Rosenblatt, Northland, B. Riley, and Jefferies all raised their price targets on Coherent. Rosenblatt set the highest target at $500, while Northland was most cautious at $280. Analysts cited strong AI transceiver demand, accelerating data center sales, and improving execution as key drivers for the revisions.
Needham raised its price target to $420 from $380 and maintained a Buy rating. The firm highlighted that Coherent's data center sales accelerated 24% sequentially as laser supply from the company's 6-inch fab flowed through to volume transceiver shipments. Needham noted that Coherent is seeing improving execution amid high demand and even higher investor expectations, and continues to view the company as a "major AI infrastructure beneficiary."
Raymond James raised its price target to $448 from $435, maintaining a Strong Buy rating. The firm said management effectively addressed concerns around co-packaged optics (CPO) timing and China lasers, while the company's sales target of more than $3 billion by the end of fiscal 2027 offers "meaningful upside" versus consensus.
B. Riley raised its target to $345 from $309 while keeping a Neutral rating, citing robust data center demand and the more than $3 billion fiscal 2027 revenue outlook as factors supporting significant earnings upside.
Rosenblatt was the most bullish, raising its price target to $500 from $425 while maintaining a Buy rating. Analyst Mike Genovese said Coherent's 2027 production capacity is "effectively sold out," with customers already booking capacity for 2028.
Jefferies raised its price target to $420 from $375, maintaining a Buy rating and describing the quarter as "another beat and raise." The firm said Coherent's September-quarter outlook points to accelerating data center growth and expects the company to post its first quarter with more than $3 billion in revenue by the end of fiscal 2027.
Northland took a more cautious view, raising its target to $280 from $230 while maintaining a Market Perform rating. Analyst Tim Savageaux said upside in Q4 and the outlook was driven by strong AI transceiver revenue, but noted that competitive and other risks to pluggable optics "continue to act as a governor on both earnings leverage and valuation."
During the post-earnings call, Coherent CEO Jim Anderson said fiscal 2026 was an "outstanding year" for the company and that Coherent is entering fiscal 2027 with "significant momentum," expecting growth to accelerate significantly. After posting its first $2 billion revenue quarter, the company now expects to deliver its first quarter with more than $3 billion in revenue by the end of fiscal 2027.
"AI runs on compute, but it scales on optical connectivity," Anderson said, describing Coherent's photonic technology platform as foundational to the performance and scalability of AI data centers.
Coherent reported earnings per share (EPS) of $1.74 on revenue of $2.05 billion, compared to expectations of $1.62 EPS on revenue of $1.98 billion. Despite the strong results, COHR shares were down nearly 2% in Thursday's opening trade.
Retail sentiment on Stocktwits around Coherent was extremely bullish, with message volumes at extremely high levels. COHR stock is up 89% year-to-date and 205% over the past 12 months, significantly outpacing the S&P 500 and technology sector benchmarks.