What Happened?
Shares of laser company nLIGHT (NASDAQ: LASR) fell 4.1% in the afternoon session after announcements of new U.S. export restrictions on semiconductor technology to China. The U.S. Department of Commerce announced it was closing a loophole that allowed some foreign companies to export semiconductor manufacturing equipment to China without a license. This regulatory tightening creates a new headwind for the industry.
The shares closed the day at $28.80, down 3.4% from previous close.
The stock market overreacts to news, and big price drops can present good opportunities to buy high-quality stocks. Is now the time to buy nLIGHT? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
What Is The Market Telling Us
nLIGHT’s shares are extremely volatile and have had 35 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 10 days ago when the stock dropped 4.2% on the news that investors took some profits off the table as markets awaited signals on future monetary policy from the Federal Reserve's Jackson Hole symposium later in the week. The downturn in the market was largely attributed to a significant sell-off in megacap tech and chipmaker shares. Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), and Broadcom all saw notable drops, dragging down the VanEck Semiconductor ETF. Other major tech-related companies like Tesla, Meta Platforms, and Netflix were also under pressure. A key reason for this trend is that much of the recent market gains have been concentrated in the "AI trade," which includes these large technology and semiconductor companies. So this could also mean that some investors are locking in some gains ahead of more definitive feedback from the Fed.
nLIGHT is up 177% since the beginning of the year, and at $28.80 per share, it is trading close to its 52-week high of $29.83 from August 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of nLIGHT’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $1,233.
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