New York, February 22, 2026, 15:03 EST — Market closed.
- Coherent shares finished Friday up 6.8% at $248.18, capping off a sharp rally.
- Tariff policy’s up in the air again after Trump bumped the across-the-board levy to 15% this weekend.
- Nvidia’s midweek earnings land next, a crucial test for both the AI trade and its supply chain.
Coherent Corp (COHR) finished Friday’s session at $248.18, climbing $15.90, or 6.8%. The stock traded as low as $228.63 and reached $252.43 during the day. Volume landed at roughly 6.3 million shares, putting activity close to the high end of its 52-week range.
The photonics supplier is now staring down a new round of macro pressure, with tariff policy shifting almost daily ahead of Wall Street’s Monday open. President Donald Trump first set a 10% duty on all imports starting Tuesday, but by Saturday he’d bumped that up to 15% for the first 150 days, according to Reuters. (Reuters)
That’s significant for Coherent, which is deep in the global tech supply chain, handling everything from components and materials to lasers. Lately, the stock has moved in sync with other “AI plumbing” plays. Coherent’s footprint spans networking, materials, and lasers, covering both industrial and communications sectors, per a Reuters company profile. (Reuters)
Friday saw a supportive backdrop across the broader market. U.S. equities moved higher after the Supreme Court tossed out Trump’s global tariffs; the S&P 500 picked up 0.69% and the Nasdaq climbed 0.90%, according to Reuters. “Today is a removal of some uncertainty, and we’re on to the next phase,” said Mike Dickson, who heads research and quantitative strategies at Horizon Investments. (Reuters)
It wasn’t just Coherent catching a bid among optical and data-center stocks. Lumentum tacked on roughly 5.1%, Ciena advanced 5.2%, while Corning jumped 7.3% on Friday, according to exchange figures.
Traders are jumping into plays connected to fiber and fast connectivity. Corning shares soared to an all-time high on Friday, with investors betting that AI data centers are accelerating the timeline for fiber optics and supporting infrastructure, according to Investopedia. (Investopedia)
Company-level headlines weren’t fresh, but they remained relevant for the coming week. Coherent, back on Feb. 4, reported “strong year-over-year revenue growth” fueled by “strong demand in our datacenter and communications segment,” with quarterly revenue landing at $1.69 billion. (Coherent Inc)
The company also projected third-quarter fiscal 2026 revenue to land between $1.70 billion and $1.84 billion, with non-GAAP gross margin seen in a 38.5% to 40.5% range. That lays out a concrete benchmark for investors watching how quickly capacity expansion matches up with demand. (Nasdaq)
Even so, AI stocks have seen their share of turbulence. Investors are poking at the numbers—specifically, whether all this spending will eventually pay off, and which vendors can turn that demand into lasting profits. Reuters’ “Take Five” weekly outlook pointed to ongoing concerns about whether AI investments will actually deliver returns, along with the wider shake-ups the technology is triggering across markets. (Reuters)
Coherent’s got a double whammy on the table: tariffs push up costs and throw more uncertainty into global hardware logistics, and if AI capex pulls back, that’s a direct hit to networking component orders. Those tariffs? They’re coming through Section 122 of the Trade Act—a rarely tapped measure that lets the White House slap on broad, temporary levies. But extending them past 150 days? That runs into legal hurdles and would require a nod from Congress, according to Reuters. (Reuters)
All eyes shift to Tuesday’s State of the Union, as traders scan for signs on tariffs and the broader economy. Nvidia reports Wednesday, Feb. 25—right in the thick of a high-stakes earnings week, one that could swing sentiment for AI-focused names including Coherent. (Investopedia)
