To: Return to Sender  who wrote (94901 ) 8/13/2025 5:15:14 PM From: Return to Sender     Read Replies (2)  | Respond to    of 95342  DJ Coherent Reports Solid Earnings. Stock Drops on Guidance. -- Barrons.com 4:41 PM ET 8/13/25 | Dow Jones  By Adam Levine   	    Coherent reported reported solid fourth-quarter earnings results on  Wednesday afternoon, but its share slid after its revenue outlook missed  projections.   	       Adjusted earnings-per-share rose to $1.00 versus Wall Street's  consensus estimate of 92 cents, according to Factset, and up from 61  cents last year. Revenue for the quarter reached $1.53 billion, ahead of  expectations for $1.51 billion, and up 16% over last year, and up 23%  for fiscal 2025.   	       But Coherent's revenue outlook for the first quarter came up short  of projections, and the stock was down 16% in late trading following the  release.   	       This is breaking news. Read a preview of Coherent's earnings below and check back for more analysis soon.   	       Optical networking company, Coherent, reports its fourth quarter on  Wednesday afternoon, and analysts are expecting continued strength from  its artificial-intelligence-fueled networking business coupled with a  slowdown in the rest of the company.   	       On average, Wall Street analysts expect the company to report  adjusted earnings-per-share of 92 cents, up from 61 cents in the fourth  quarter of 2024. Sales are expected to be up 15% from last year to $1.5  billion.   	       The biggest 2025 driver in the stock market has been the investment  in AI data centers, spiraling into hundreds of billions of dollars  worldwide. Coherent benefits from the high-bandwidth optical networking  that these data centers are now just beginning to require as they scale  up to massive proportions.   	       Coherent stock is up 23% on the year compared to 12% for the Nasdaq  100 index. But it started out 2025 down 47%, bottoming in early April  as the White House announced high worldwide tariffs, with Coherent  shares down 20% in a single day.   	       What turned around its fortunes was that Coherent's networking  business hasn't missed a beat. Last quarter's segment revenue was up 45%  since the third quarter of 2024, and companywide profitability metrics  were above analyst expectations. The Wall Street consensus projection is  for 38% fourth-quarter networking sales growth, offset by the materials  and laser segments, expected to see a combined revenue decline of 8%.   	       A future driver could be Cohrent's inclusion as a supplier for  AI-leader Nvidia's new optical networking switches, announced in March.  Optical networking provides advantages over traditional copper wiring,  but each connection uses electricity, and that adds up quickly in giant  data centers, which are already filled with power-hungry AI servers.   	       Nvidia sees a future for optical networking if the energy costs can  be reduced, and its new switches are a first step in that direction  being 3.5 times more energy efficient than the usual optical switch  setup. Over time, this could become a larger portion of the hundreds of  billions of dollars being spent on new data centers, and Coherent may  get swept up in that.   	       But meanwhile, Coherent's optical networking business is doing just fine.   	       Write to Adam Levine at adam.levine@barrons.com   	       This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow  Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones  Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.