New York, January 24, 2026, 19:55 (ET) — Market closed
- Coherent shares dropped 2.9% on Friday, closing at $196.94
- Late-week options flow tilted sharply toward calls, signaling bullish bets
- New price-target increases have sharpened focus on the company’s Feb. 4 earnings report
Coherent Corp shares dropped 2.9% on Friday, closing at $196.94, capping off a week marked by volatile moves for the photonics company.
The decline followed a turbulent week on Wall Street: the S&P 500 edged up 0.1% Friday, the Nasdaq added 0.3%, while the Dow dropped 0.6%. All three ended the week with small losses.
Options activity monitored by Benzinga showed a surge in big trades on COHR late Friday—18 calls against just four puts over 22 deals. Recent price targets include $220 from Stifel, $235 from Susquehanna, and $215 at Barclays. Coherent’s top revenue driver remains networking, alongside its materials and lasers divisions.
Calls are contracts giving traders the right to buy shares at a fixed price before a specified date; puts offer the right to sell under the same terms. High call volume may signal a directional wager, act as a hedge, or let traders speculate on a sharp move without holding the stock.
Into the weekend, peers also took a hit: Lumentum dropped 4.4% on Friday, while Ciena slipped 0.4%.
Stifel’s Ruben Roy boosted his price target on Coherent to $220 from $168, maintaining a Buy rating. He noted the company stands out “most favorably” on valuation and near-term execution. TipRanks
Susquehanna’s Christopher Rolland raised his price target to $235 from $160, maintaining a Positive rating. He cited a “steadying upcycle” and a wider AI infrastructure supply chain but noted ongoing pressure on auto demand. TipRanks
Coherent will hold its FY2026 second-quarter earnings webcast on Wednesday, Feb. 4, at 4:30 p.m. EST.
The stock remains close to the high end of its 52-week range, which stretches from $45.58 to $213.30, offering scant margin for a weak report or a guarded forecast.
Bullish positioning faces a risk because options flow often gets noisy — heavy call buying might hide hedges or spreads that don’t actually signal strong optimism. Next week’s Federal Reserve decision and a packed schedule of major earnings could rapidly shift sentiment in growth stocks.
As trading kicks off Monday, eyes will be on whether Friday’s retreat sticks — and if positioning ahead of Feb. 4 signals a clear directional bet or merely sets the stage for some volatility around the print.
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