Coherent, Lumentum, and Ciena stocks surge on bullish Wall Street call

Optical networking stocks ripped higher on Thursday after Wall Street grew bullish on the next generation of data center networking.

Coherent ( COHR ) stock jumped 11%, while Lumentum ( LITE ) increased 7%. Ciena ( CIEN ) gained 6%, and Arista ( ANET ) also rose after Bernstein called the group structural AI winners in a note initiating coverage with an Outperform rating.

Coherent led the pack on Thursday after launching an optics platform for AI infrastructure, dubbed PhotonLink .

PhotonLink packages Coherent's services, photonics technologies, and components, including lasers, fibers, and detectors, into one platform for AI data centers. The company said it already has 20 customer engagements, split between co-packaged optic (CPO) and near-packaged optic (NPO) assemblies, as well as five engagements "in emerging chip-to-chip connectivity."

"The next leap in AI requires more than faster chips — it requires a new way to connect them," Coherent CEO Jim Anderson said in a statement. "Customers need complete optical solutions, not just individual components."

As demand for AI compute grows, companies are looking to make data center connections faster and more energy-efficient than the copper wiring commonly used today.

In April, Goldman Sachs called optical networking "the next mega trend in AI infrastructure," roughly a month after Nvidia ( NVDA ) announced a $4 billion investment in Coherent and Lumentum.

"Along with an AI infrastructure ramp-up and rising computing power per rack, we expect all configurations to enjoy strong growth ahead, opening a further 9x TAM unlock to US$154bn," the Goldman Sachs team wrote.

Investors have bought up optics stocks in hopes that they're the next AI leaders. Today's gains add to an impressive rally for the group year to date. Coherent stock has risen 72%, Lumentum 185%, Ciena 60%, and Arista 56% in 2026.