New York, May 31, 2026, 07:46 EDT
- POET finished Friday at $12.29, falling 7.3% for the day and down about 15.8% from last Friday’s close.
- U.S. markets didn’t open Monday because of Memorial Day, so Nasdaq-listed stocks have a four-day trading week.
- This week, the key question is if a $400 million financing will settle worries about dilution, customer exposure, and shareholder lawsuits.
POET Technologies shares lost ground in a shortened week, with investors eyeing the fresh $400 million cash infusion, a sharp May drop, ongoing securities litigation, and uncertainty after losing orders linked to Marvell Technology’s Celestial AI business.
Toronto’s optical-chip firm ended Friday at $12.29, dropping 7.3%. Shares closed last week at $14.59, so the stock lost about 16% in one week. In the same stretch, the Nasdaq Composite gained 2.4%.
POET is getting attention as a quick AI optics play. Its products are built to move data using light, not just electricity, inside AI data centers. Power and speed are major sticking points there.
POET Technologies said May 18 it wrapped up a registered direct offering, raising $400.0 million in gross proceeds. The deal included 19,047,620 common shares and a warrant for the same number of shares with an exercise price of $26.25. The securities went straight to an investor.
POET CEO Suresh Venkatesan said the company is increasing wafer production and optical engine assembly capacity about ten times to get ready for higher output into 2027. He said POET now has over 115 staff around the world and 20,000 square feet of assembly space in Malaysia.
POET posted Q1 revenue of $503,389 and a net loss of $12.3 million before securing the new financing. Venkatesan described a recent Lumilens order for EOI-based optical engines, worth $50 million, as “an important commercial milestone.” The company said the deal could lead to over $500 million in sales over five years. POET Technologies
Bullish arguments just took another hit. POET said April 27 that Celestial AI canceled all its purchase orders. Celestial AI was bought by Marvell, which said that details shared about purchase orders and shipping broke confidentiality rules. POET said it’s still fulfilling other customer orders, including one for around $5 million.
Legal hurdles stayed over the stock this weekend. The Schall Law Firm on Friday reminded investors about its class-action case claiming U.S. securities laws were broken. Rosen Law said buyers from April 1 to 08:57 a.m. ET April 27 have until June 29 to ask for lead-plaintiff status.
POET’s old PFIC status is a sticking point in the case. PFIC is a U.S. tax label for certain foreign companies that can hit American investors with tough tax rules. POET says it plans to shift its headquarters and home country to the U.S. to get rid of PFIC risk in years ahead.
Short sellers have fueled the swings. Dan David, who runs Wolfpack Research, told Business Insider that his firm sees POET in a group of companies that “don’t make money, make a lot of promises, raise a lot of money.” POET and Marvell both declined to comment to the publication. Business Insider
The competitive landscape keeps shifting. Nvidia said in March it would put $2 billion each into Lumentum and Coherent, both photonics suppliers, to lock up optics for its AI chips. That’s brought some notice to small-cap POET, even though its revenue is still limited.
Risk is that new financing won’t mean new orders right away. Customer ramps could get pushed out, and worries about Marvell might keep confidence low. U.S. investors are still looking at litigation and tax issues. For POET, a bigger cash pile may not matter if it can’t show its optical engine roadmap will turn into steady, repeat sales.
Looking at the week, traders face a tough setup. The stock is way under the $21 financing level and the company now has new cash to grow. But the market wants to see results. How the stock opens on Monday will give the first read on sentiment.
