Coherent Corp. 8-K

PositiveEarningsNew guidance

AI optical demand fuels Datacenter & Communications growth; PhotonLink agreements include ≈$20B over five years.

Filed 2026-11-04 16:05 ET

Summary

Q1 FY2027 results with Q2 guidance.

Datacenter & Communications growth, supported by the shift toward optical connectivity in AI data centers, drove the quarter; newer growth areas began ramping while Industrial remained soft.

Q2 non-GAAP EPS guidance midpoint is $2.38 vs $2.09 in Q1; revenue midpoint is $2.65B, +12% Q/Q from $2.37B; non-GAAP gross margin guidance is 40%-42% vs 40.6%. Management expects FY2027 pro forma revenue growth above 60%, a first $3B revenue quarter by FY2027-end and a first $4B quarter in FY2028; it raised its longer-term target to achieve a quarter with non-GAAP gross margin above 45% before CY2028-end.

Developments

  • PhotonLink, an integrated optics platform for co-packaged optics, near-packaged optics and chip-to-chip connectivity, has anchor customers and long-term agreements, including an agreement valued at ≈$20B over five years, with revenue expected to begin ramping in early CY2028.
  • Internal indium phosphide output capacity doubled Y/Y one quarter ahead of plan; Coherent expects it to more than double again by CY2027-end.
  • Industrial semiconductor capital-equipment bookings increased, supporting an expected return to growth in Q2 FY2027. Thermadite xPU cooling prototypes are expected to ship to strategic customers in Q2 FY2027, with a revenue ramp expected in H2 CY2027; the company also said fusion-related demand is ramping.

Key Figures

Metric Q1 FY2027
Revenue $2.37B, +50% Y/Y
Gross margin, GAAP 39.1%, vs 36.6%
Gross margin, non-GAAP 40.6%, vs 38.7%
Operating income, GAAP $378M, +46% Y/Y
Operating income, non-GAAP $550M, +78% Y/Y
Net earnings attributable to Coherent Corp., GAAP $385M, +70% Y/Y
Net earnings attributable to Coherent Corp., non-GAAP $422M, +91% Y/Y
Diluted EPS, GAAP $1.90, vs $1.19
Diluted EPS, non-GAAP $2.09, vs $1.16
Operating cash flow $(92.7)M, vs $46.0M
  • Pro forma revenue grew 56% Y/Y, excluding the former Aerospace & Defense and Munich businesses. Datacenter & Communications revenue rose 79% Y/Y to $1.95B, 82% of total revenue; Industrial revenue fell 15% Y/Y to $419M.
  • Scale-across/data center interconnect revenue exceeded $200M, roughly quadrupling Y/Y and reaching a nearly $1B annualized run rate.
  • Additions to property, plant and equipment were $775.5M, vs $103.9M a year earlier.
  • At 9/30/2026, cash and cash equivalents were $1.55B and short-term investments were $200M. Current and long-term debt totaled $4.00B; the quarter included $773M of proceeds from other credit facilities.

Against earlier guidance (derived from earlier filings)

MetricPeriodEarlier guidanceActualResult
RevenueQ1 FY2027$2.2B-$2.4B$2.37Bin line
Gross margin, non-GAAPQ1 FY202739.5%-41.5%40.6%in line
EPS, non-GAAPQ1 FY2027$1.85-$2.05$2.09beat

Guidance

Metric Period Guidance Prior Direction
Revenue Q2 FY2027 $2.55B-$2.75B — —
Gross margin, non-GAAP Q2 FY2027 40%-42% — —
Operating expenses, non-GAAP Q2 FY2027 $430M-$450M — —
Tax rate, non-GAAP Q2 FY2027 18%-20% — —
Diluted EPS, non-GAAP Q2 FY2027 $2.28-$2.48 — —
Pro forma revenue growth FY2027 Exceed 60%; more than double FY2026’s rate — —
Revenue By FY2027-end First $3B revenue quarter — —
Revenue FY2028 First $4B revenue quarter — —
Gross margin, non-GAAP Before CY2028-end Above 45% for a quarter — Raised
PhotonLink revenue Q3 FY2027 Exceed $100M — —
PhotonLink revenue Before CY2027-end Exceed $250M per quarter — —
Scale-across/data center interconnect quarterly revenue By CY2027-end Roughly double Q1 FY2027 — —
Industrial revenue Q2 FY2027 Return to growth — —

This summary is based on our transcription of the company's slides (EX-99.2), read by an AI model from the slide images.

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Model 005 · prompt v175 · 2026-11-04 23:39:34Z

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