NEW YORK, May 26, 2026, 14:02 (EDT)
POET Technologies Inc. shares fell about 7.7% to $13.46 in Tuesday afternoon trading, bucking a broad chip rally as investors kept pressure on the AI photonics company after its recent stock-and-warrant financing. The shares traded between $13.14 and $15.44 after opening at $15.00, with nearly 35 million shares changing hands, while the iShares Semiconductor ETF rose about 5.5%.
The move matters because POET’s cash position has changed fast, but so has the share count. The Toronto-based company closed a non-brokered registered direct offering — a sale of registered stock to an investor — on May 18, issuing 19,047,620 common shares and a warrant, or a right to buy shares later at a set price, exercisable for the same number of shares. The deal raised $400,000,020 at $21 for each share-and-warrant unit; Chairman and CEO Suresh Venkatesan said POET was expanding capacity “by roughly ten-fold” for higher-volume manufacturing into 2027. POET Technologies
That leaves investors weighing two things at once: much more capital for factories, engineering and acquisitions, and dilution, the reduction in existing holders’ ownership when new shares are issued. The stock’s fall below the $21 offering price suggests the market is still asking how quickly the new money can turn into revenue.
The weakness was sharper because the tape around AI chips was strong. Reuters reported that the S&P 500 and Nasdaq were near record highs on Tuesday as chip stocks led the advance, with Micron and Marvell among the gainers and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index hitting an all-time high.
POET is trying to sell investors on a place in the AI data-center supply chain. The company designs photonic integrated circuits — chips that use light to move data — and optical engines for AI and hyperscale data centers. Its May agreement with Lumilens included an initial $50 million purchase order for electrical-optical interposer engines, a platform meant to connect electronic and optical components; Lumilens CEO Ankur Singla called GPU interconnects a “defining bottleneck,” and the companies said the relationship could scale to more than $500 million in cumulative purchases over five years if development and manufacturing milestones are met. POET Technologies
The revenue base remains small. POET reported first-quarter non-recurring engineering — paid customer design work — and product revenue of $503,389, up from $166,760 a year earlier, while posting a net loss of $12.3 million, or 8 cents a share. Operating cash flow was negative $8.8 million.
But the downside case is plain. In April, POET said Marvell Semiconductor, which acquired Celestial AI, canceled all purchase orders it had received from Celestial, citing alleged breaches of confidentiality; POET also said it was pursuing deliveries for other customers, including a separate purchase order worth about $5 million. If the Lumilens ramp slips or qualification takes longer than planned, the $400 million financing could look more like a cushion than proof of demand, while the warrant overhang keeps pressure on the stock.
Tax questions also sit in the background. POET said in April it believed it would be treated as a passive foreign investment company, or PFIC, for 2025, a U.S. tax classification that can create adverse consequences for American shareholders. CFO Thomas Mika said the company believed it would not be a PFIC in 2026 and that the board intended to redomicile the company in the United States, with the matter expected to go to shareholders if approval is required.
For now, the trade is execution versus dilution. The next test is whether POET can convert the Lumilens order, new capacity and bigger balance sheet into qualified products and shipments, not just a stronger story in a hot corner of the chip market.
