By Connor Hart
Shares of NLight rose after the company guided for higher-than-expected revenue in the second quarter, after strength across aerospace and defense markets helped boost its top line during the recent period.
The stock climbed 13% to $75 in premarket trading Friday. Through Thursday's close, shares have surged more than 76% since the beginning of the year.
The laser maker said late Thursday that it expected revenue of $75 million to $81 million in the current quarter, ahead of the $74.7 million that analysts polled by FactSet expected.
Chief Executive Scott Keeney said nLight is encouraged by the pipeline of directed-energy opportunities, including follow-on production content, upgrades to existing platforms, and new prototype programs that should position the company for continued growth over the next several years.
The outlook came as nLight swung to a first-quarter profit of $645,000, or 1 cent a share, from a loss of $8.09 million, or 16 cents a share, a year earlier.
Stripping out certain one-time items, adjusted earnings of 20 cents a share topped Wall Street models for 8 cents a share.
Revenue jumped 55% to $80.2 million, driven in substantial part by a nearly 70% rise in aerospace-and-defense revenue to $55.1 million. Analysts were looking for total revenue of $72.1 million.
Write to Connor Hart at connor.hart@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 08, 2026 06:55 ET (10:55 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.