...For now, though, investors don't know how to account for it all. Industry leader II-VI recently earned the winning bid for optical component maker Coherent (COHR). Rival offers from competitors Lumentum (LITE) and MKS Instruments (MKSI) forced II-VI to raise its offer several times and ultimately pay about $7 billion in cash and stock. II-VI's stock dropped from a high of nearly $100 to the mid-$60s when the bidding war came to a close.
That was an overreaction, and II-VI stock has rebounded to about $76 in recent days. But there's even more compelling value in the combination of II-VI and Coherent than the market is crediting. The stock should regain the $100 level and continue moving higher from there.