nLIGHT Posts Record Q2 Revenue but Shares Fall 15% on Soft Q3 EBITDA Guidance

LASR delivered record second-quarter results, with revenue of $82.6 million against a FactSet estimate of roughly $78.6 million, up 34% year over year. Record product revenue of $59 million grew 45%, and non-GAAP earnings of $0.15 per share landed in line with consensus.

The stock fell 15.1% to $64.09 anyway. The reason was not the revenue guide, which at roughly $68 million at the midpoint came in near estimates, but the profitability guide underneath it: third-quarter adjusted EBITDA was guided to about $4 million at the midpoint against the roughly $7.7 million analysts carried.

That gap is the substance of the story. A company can guide revenue in line and still reset its valuation if the incremental revenue arrives at materially lower contribution margin, which is what a roughly 45% cut to expected EBITDA on in-line revenue implies. Commercial revenue, spanning industrial and microfabrication, grew 20% year over year to $25.3 million, a slower pace than the overall 34%, meaning the aerospace and defense side is carrying the growth.

What to watch is whether the EBITDA compression is transitory. If it reflects program mix and supply chain costs on defense work that reprices, margin recovers with the next contract cycle. If it reflects pricing pressure in the directed-energy and laser components market, the in-line revenue guide is the less important number and the margin path becomes the thesis.

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