Lumentum (NASDAQ:LITE) Upgraded by Zacks Research to Strong-Buy Rating

Lumentum (NASDAQ:LITE) was upgraded by Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on LITE. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Lumentum from $800.00 to $820.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $1,040.00 target price on shares of Lumentum in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Loop Capital lifted their price target on shares of Lumentum from $900.00 to $1,400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Lumentum in a report on Friday. Finally, Northland Securities boosted their price target on shares of Lumentum from $1,000.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,044.67.

Lumentum Price Performance

NASDAQ:LITE opened at $866.71 on Thursday. Lumentum has a 52 week low of $115.89 and a 52 week high of $1,085.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.74 billion, a PE ratio of -10.54 and a beta of 1.50. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $809.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $790.21.

Lumentum (NASDAQ:LITE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 11th. The technology company reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $987.70 million. Lumentum had a positive return on equity of 26.34% and a negative net margin of 230.15%.Lumentum’s quarterly revenue was up 109.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.88 EPS. Lumentum has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 4.050-4.350 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Lumentum will post 19.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Lumentum

In other news, insider Vincent Retort sold 2,483 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $827.82, for a total value of $2,055,477.06. Following the transaction, the insider owned 109,438 shares in the company, valued at $90,594,965.16. This trade represents a 2.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Yuen Wupen sold 500 shares of Lumentum stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $898.15, for a total value of $449,075.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 93,229 shares in the company, valued at $83,733,626.35. This represents a 0.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 16,352 shares of company stock valued at $14,315,562 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Lumentum by 36.8% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 945 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Lumentum by 109.9% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 11,986 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $747,000 after buying an additional 6,275 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lumentum by 9.1% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 8,139 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $507,000 after buying an additional 680 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new position in Lumentum during the second quarter worth about $298,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in Lumentum during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,712,000. 94.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines Impacting Lumentum

Here are the key news stories impacting Lumentum this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Northland Securities raised its Lumentum earnings forecasts substantially. The firm lifted its FY2027 EPS estimate to $19.81 from $14.97, with quarterly estimates now ranging from $3.81 in Q1 to $6.20 in Q4. Northland maintained an “Outperform” rating and a $1,200 price target, supporting the bullish case for continued earnings growth. Northland Securities analyst estimate report
• Positive Sentiment: Lumentum is being highlighted as an AI-infrastructure beneficiary. Analysts and financial publications point to rising demand for optical networking equipment as data centers expand to support artificial intelligence workloads. Lumentum is positioned across the optics and networking portions of that buildout. Beyond Chipmakers: 4 Stocks to Buy That Power AI Data Center Expansion
• Positive Sentiment: LITE was added to Zacks’ Rank #1 momentum-stock list. The designation may attract momentum-oriented investors and reinforces the stock’s strong recent performance. Best Momentum Stocks to Buy for August 21st
• Neutral Sentiment: A report on data-center construction emphasized the enormous fiber requirements of new AI facilities, a potential long-term demand driver for optical-component suppliers such as Lumentum. However, the article provided limited company-specific financial updates. A Single Meta Data Center Will Require “8 Million Miles of Fiber”
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation concerns could be limiting further upside. A Seeking Alpha analysis characterized Lumentum as increasingly expensive after its sharp rally. With the shares near their 52-week high and the company still reporting a negative net margin, some investors may be taking profits despite the favorable growth outlook. Lumentum: It’s Getting Expensive

Lumentum Company Profile

Lumentum Holdings Inc, headquartered in San Jose, California, is a leading provider of photonic technologies that enable high-speed optical communication networks and advanced industrial applications. The company designs and manufactures a broad range of lasers, optical modules and subsystems tailored to the evolving requirements of telecommunications carriers, cloud data centers and enterprise networking.

Its core product portfolio includes tunable and fixed-wavelength laser transmitters, coherent optical engines, transceivers for long-haul, metro and data center interconnects, as well as test and measurement instruments.