10 Best Performing Semiconductor Stocks So Far in 2026

7. POET Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:POET)

Year-to-Date Performance: 152.29%

POET Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:POET) is one of the best performing semiconductor stocks so far in 2026. On May 14, POET Technologies and Lumilens entered into a joint development and supply agreement to advance wafer-level photonic integration for frontier AI infrastructure. The collaboration introduces a new integration paradigm called the Electrical-Optical Interposer/EOI. This platform aims to eliminate traditional active-alignment manufacturing constraints, enabling high-volume, cost-efficient production that scales alongside hyperscaler GPU growth.

As part of the commercial framework, Lumilens has placed an initial $50 million purchase order with POET for EOI-based engines. This agreement marks the first phase of a broader supplier relationship that has the potential to scale to more than $500 million in cumulative purchases over the next 5 years. To align long-term strategic value, POET has granted Lumilens a nine-year warrant to purchase up to ~22.9 million common shares at an exercise price of $8.25 per share, vesting in tranches tied to future purchase milestones.

The joint multi-year roadmap spans from 800G and 1.6T pluggable transceivers to high-density Near-Package Optics/NPO and Co-Packaged Optics/CPO solutions. Fulfillment of these purchase orders and future revenue realization remain subject to successful development, module qualification, and manufacturing scaling. Engineering samples from the joint development program are projected to be available in late 2026, with a production ramp scheduled for 2027.

POET Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:POET) is a firm that designs, develops, manufactures, and sells optoelectronic products for the sensing, data transfer, and telecommunications markets. It created the POET Optical Interposer platform, which allows the combination of electronic and photonic devices into a single multi-chip module.