Craig-Hallum Raises nLIGHT PT to $24 on Strong Growth Outlook, Defense Spending

nLIGHT Inc. (NASDAQ:LASR) is one of the best performing semiconductor stocks to buy now. Earlier on June 26, Craig-Hallum increased its price target for nLight to $24 from $14, while maintaining a Buy rating on the shares. The decision came from the firm’s heightened confidence in nLight’s growth outlook and cited a favorable global environment for defense spending.

In Q1 2025, nLight made $51.7 million in quarterly revenue, which was a 16% year-over-year increase compared to $44.5 million in the first quarter of 2024. Defense revenue alone reached a record high of $32.7 million, which made up 63% of total sales due to a 150% year-over-year growth in defense product sales.

Craig-Hallum Raises nLIGHT PT to $24 on Strong Growth Outlook, Defense Spending

A technician in a lab coat inspecting a semiconductor laser.

The company’s high-power laser technology is strategically aligned with critical Department of Defense priorities in the aerospace and defense (A&D) market, including the Israeli Iron Beam program. nLight anticipates its A&D revenue to grow by at least 25% in 2025, which was supported by strong performance in directed energy and laser sensing markets.

nLIGHT Inc. (NASDAQ:LASR) designs, develops, manufactures, and sells semiconductor and fiber lasers for industrial, microfabrication, and aerospace and defense applications.

While we acknowledge the potential of LASR to grow, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than LASR and that has 100x upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.