Optical stocks run as GoPro's Starman Optical merger draws speculative flow against a broader AI infrastructure bid
The optical-photonics space ran higher Friday morning even as the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEARCA: SPY) slipped 0.33% to $770.59 and the Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ: QQQ) traded essentially flat at $718.38. GoPro (NASDAQ: GPRO)…
Key takeaways
- GoPro (NASDAQ: GPRO) gained 34% to $1.86 Friday morning, extending a rerating tied to its disclosed merger with Starman Optical, a privately held U.S. maker of optical transceivers.
- The deal gives GoPro shareholders an aggregate $285 million ($1.14 per share in cash) plus roughly 10% of the combined company's shares, extinguishes about $92 million in debt, and retains the Nasdaq listing, with closing expected by year-end subject to regulatory and stockholder
- Coherent (NYSE: COHR) rose 7% to $282.45 on Q4 FY2026 revenue of $2.05 billion, up 33.7% year over year, while Lumentum (NASDAQ: LITE) added 3% to $876.92 on fiscal Q4 revenue of $1.01 billion, up 109.3% year over year.
- Starman's transceiver business has no public operating history, leaving the merged entity facing a credibility gap against the incumbents' demonstrated results.
- GoPro's monthly gain reached roughly 120% by Friday with no fresh disclosure attached, trading well above the $1.14 cash floor.
The optical-photonics space ran higher Friday morning even as the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEARCA: SPY) slipped 0.33% to $770.59 and the Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ: QQQ) traded essentially flat at $718.38. GoPro (NASDAQ: GPRO) led the move, gaining 34% to $1.86 and extending a rerating that began Monday when the company disclosed its merger with Starman Optical, a privately held U.S. maker of optical transceivers.
The deal terms give GoPro shareholders an aggregate $285 million, or $1.14 per share in cash, plus roughly 10% of the combined company's outstanding shares. The transaction also extinguishes roughly $92 million in outstanding debt, and the combined entity retains its Nasdaq listing, with closing expected by year-end subject to regulatory and stockholder approval. CEO Nicholas Woodman said the deal positions GoPro as a leading American imaging and optical solutions company, extending its reach into AI datacenter infrastructure alongside defense, government, robotics, and aerospace markets. Content creator Mark Fischbach, known online as Markiplier, separately disclosed a stake that makes him GoPro's largest individual shareholder, drawing meme-adjacent flow into a tape already trading well above the $1.14 cash portion of the offer. Starman's transceiver business carries no public operating history. That gap is priced on faith.
Where the incumbents set the bar
Coherent (NYSE: COHR) gained 7% to $282.45 on Q4 FY2026 revenue of $2.05 billion, up 33.7% year over year, with Datacenter and Communications contributing $1.615 billion at 79% of the total and up 59% year over year on a pro forma basis. CEO Jim Anderson said Coherent enters fiscal 2027 with exceptional customer demand, expanding production capacity, and multiple new growth platforms beginning to ramp. Lumentum Holdings (NASDAQ: LITE) added 3% to $876.92 after fiscal Q4 revenue of $1.01 billion, up 109.3% year over year, with a non-GAAP operating margin of 36.6% and non-GAAP EPS of $3.23. CEO Michael Hurlston said Lumentum is positioned at the heart of a secular industry shift as AI compute drives datacenter architects toward optical links for primary connectivity.
Both incumbents are producing operating results that Starman's business has yet to demonstrate publicly. Against Coherent's indium-phosphide ramp and Lumentum's 1.6T module traction, the newly merged entity faces a credibility gap that would surface quickly under any capacity or pricing slippage. GoPro's monthly gain had reached roughly 120% by Friday's session, with no fresh disclosure attached to the move. The spread between the current share price and the $1.14 cash floor is the figure to track as the transaction approaches its year-end closing target.
Source · 來源