TORONTO, May 6, 2026, 11:01 EDT
Investor-rights firms ramped up their class-action alerts Wednesday, spotlighting litigation against POET Technologies Inc. The AI photonics maker is under scrutiny just days after Marvell Semiconductor scrapped all Celestial AI-linked orders. Levi & Korsinsky flagged a June 29 lead-plaintiff deadline, naming CEO Suresh Venkatesan and CFO Thomas Mika as defendants in the case.
The clock is worth watching here—POET’s shares remain weighed down by a recent about-face on the customer-validation front. Just before 11 a.m. EDT, the stock was changing hands at $9.385 on Nasdaq, up 17.5 cents, after an earlier pop to $10.92. That put POET’s market cap around $572 million.
POET disclosed in an April 27 SEC filing that Marvell—the company that acquired Celestial AI—on April 23 delivered written notice canceling every Celestial AI purchase order. That includes the initial production units revealed in April 2023. According to POET, Marvell pointed to POET’s release of shipping and purchase-order data as a violation of confidentiality rules.
The lawsuit targets investors who purchased POET securities between April 1 and 8:57 a.m. ET on April 27. According to Bernstein Liebhard, the complaint—filed Wednesday—claims POET made misstatements tied to its tax status, as well as the details of its business agreement with Marvell.
Rosen Law Firm has filed a complaint accusing POET and its executives of making false or misleading statements, or of omitting key material facts. The lawsuit focuses on the company’s passive foreign investment company status, a U.S. tax classification that may result in unfavorable tax consequences for American investors. It also raises issues with Mika’s public remarks on the Marvell/Celestial AI relationship.
POET had already taken steps to address the tax situation. Back on April 14, the company announced it would give U.S. shareholders the data needed to make a qualified electing fund, or QEF, election. Mika told investors the board planned to shift POET’s headquarters to the U.S., aiming to eliminate any risk of future PFIC exposure. He mentioned a shareholder vote on the move could be slotted for June 26.
The pressure comes as POET keeps working to show that a business with modest revenue can actually ramp up to meet AI data-center demand. According to its 2025 Form 20-F, POET posted $1.07 million in total revenue for the year, with a net loss of $62.96 million. Current assets, as of year-end, mostly consisted of cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments.
Management insists it has the capital it needs. Back in March, Venkatesan pointed to $430 million in cash, more than $225 million raised in the fourth quarter, plus another $150 million added in January. On top of that, he referenced a production order for POET Infinity optical engines worth over $5 million.
The runway could shrink if POET sees customers holding off or backing out on orders, or if the Marvell partnership doesn’t get back on track. In its warning, POET flagged a list of risks: uncertainty restoring ties with Marvell, hitting targets for current orders, delivering on product specs, plus the possibility of cancellations, holdups, or missing out on fresh purchase orders.
Losing Marvell as a customer stings for POET, given Marvell’s heft in the target market. Back in February, Marvell wrapped up its acquisition of Celestial AI. The pitch: Celestial’s Photonic Fabric optical interconnect tech, built for high-bandwidth and low-latency connections—prime for sprawling AI setups. CEO Matt Murphy said the purchase would bolster Marvell’s push into advanced AI and cloud data-center infrastructure.
Other optical suppliers are leaning into AI connectivity too. Coherent, for its part, announced plans to showcase 400G/lane and 3.2T transceivers, co-packaged optics, and more at OFC 2026, all targeting AI-fueled data center and communications networks.
POET has been looking to expand its customer reach. Back in March, it rolled out news of a partnership with LITEON, saying the two would co-develop optical communication modules using POET’s Optical Interposer. LITEON’s Sander Su described the effort as targeting “high-end laser solutions” for AI data centers. According to POET, prototype modules should arrive by late 2026, with high-volume manufacturing set for 2027. POET Technologies
Just a day after, POET and Lessengers rolled out plans for a 1.6T 2xDR4 optical transceiver, aiming at AI clusters and hyperscale data center networks. “AI infrastructure is pushing optical bandwidth demand sharply higher,” said Raju Kankipati, POET’s chief revenue officer. POET Technologies
So far, it’s early days for the case. Kessler Topaz has it logged as Christopher Jones v. POET Technologies Inc., No. 3:26-cv-04717, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. Lead-plaintiff motions are due by June 29. POET now faces the task of demonstrating if new contracts or deals might balance out the lost Celestial AI account.
