nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Price Target Raised to $70.00

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) had its price objective increased by Needham & Company LLC from $48.00 to $70.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on LASR. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on nLight in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $60.00 price objective for the company. Roth Mkm increased their target price on shares of nLight from $44.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Canaccord Genuity Group raised shares of nLight to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of nLight from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 8th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of nLight from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.07.

nLight Stock Down 10.7%

nLight stock opened at $56.19 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 5.63 and a quick ratio of 4.36. nLight has a fifty-two week low of $6.20 and a fifty-two week high of $62.98. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $46.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $36.60. The firm has a market cap of $2.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -119.55 and a beta of 2.27.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.03. nLight had a negative return on equity of 9.40% and a negative net margin of 8.98%.The company had revenue of $81.19 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $76.71 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.30) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 71.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that nLight will post -1.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at nLight

In other news, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 31,748 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.51, for a total transaction of $1,190,867.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,285,020 shares in the company, valued at $85,711,100.20. This represents a 1.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 66,075 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.32, for a total value of $2,399,844.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 196,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,126,855.68. This represents a 25.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 127,502 shares of company stock valued at $4,622,166. Insiders own 6.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its position in shares of nLight by 1,599.1% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,835 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 1,727 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of nLight by 7,142.9% in the fourth quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,014 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of nLight by 155.9% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,062 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 647 shares during the last quarter. Financial Consulate Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of nLight in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Wexford Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of nLight during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $41,000. 83.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key nLight News

Here are the key news stories impacting nLight this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Needham raised its price target from $48 to $70 and assigned a “buy” rating, signaling confidence in continued revenue growth and implying ~24.6% upside from the current price. Needham Price Target Raise
• Positive Sentiment: Cantor Fitzgerald raised its price target to $62.50 and moved to “overweight,” providing additional analyst support for the stock after the quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Price Target Raise
• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results topped expectations: EPS $0.14 vs. $0.11 consensus and revenue $81.2M vs. $76.7M; revenue rose ~71% year‑over‑year. Management also set Q1 revenue guidance ($70–$76M) above consensus, which supports near‑term growth expectations. Q4 Earnings & Guidance
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional interest: Bleakley Financial reported a new stake in nLight, indicating some institutional accumulation. Bleakley Stake
• Positive Sentiment: Management scheduled investor events and conferences in early March, increasing chances for deeper analyst/investor engagement and potentially clearer forward commentary. Investor Events
• Neutral Sentiment: Unusually large options volume was reported, suggesting heightened speculative or hedging activity that can amplify intraday moves but is not itself a directional signal. Options Volume Note
• Negative Sentiment: Despite the beat and raised guidance, the stock dropped as investors appeared to take profits after recent gains and reacted to remaining profitability concerns (negative net margin and ROE noted in the report). Several outlets reported the stock “tumbled” after the release. Stock Reaction Coverage
• Negative Sentiment: Heavy intraday volume and elevated volatility accompanied the move lower, which can exacerbate declines and indicates short‑term positioning changes rather than a change in underlying fundamentals. Market Reaction & Volume

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. The company also provides laser sensors, including light detection and ranging technologies for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance applications; and fiber amplifiers, beam combination, and control systems for use in high-energy laser systems in directed energy applications.