Lumentum (LITE) Stock Hits Record High After Nasdaq 100 Spot Confirmed

TLDR

• Lumentum stock jumped 16% to $1,053.09 on Monday after Nasdaq announced it will join the Nasdaq 100 on May 18, replacing CoStar Group.
• The move triggered forced buying from index-tracking funds, adding mechanical demand on top of existing momentum.
• Lumentum reported record Q3 revenue of $808.4 million, up 90% year-over-year, with gross margin expanding 540 basis points quarter-over-quarter.
• Optical peers Coherent and Corning also rose 13% and 11% respectively, both hitting record closing highs.
• Lumentum is now up 186% year-to-date and over 1,300% in the past 12 months, backed by a $2 billion Nvidia investment.

Lumentum (LITE) stock hit a record closing high of $1,053.09 on Monday, May 12, surging 16% after Nasdaq announced the company will join the Nasdaq 100 index on May 18, replacing CoStar Group (CSGP).

Lumentum Holdings Inc., LITE

The move made Lumentum the top performer in the S&P 500 for the session. The broader S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average each rose just 0.2% on the day.

The Nasdaq 100 tracks the 100 largest non-financial companies on the Nasdaq exchange. When a stock gets added, every fund benchmarked to that index is required to buy it. That forced demand hit the market fast.

Lumentum is now up 186% year-to-date. Over the past 12 months, the stock has climbed more than 1,300%.

The index news came just days after Lumentum reported fiscal Q3 2026 results on May 5. Revenue hit $808.4 million — a new company record and a 90% increase year-over-year. The stock had dipped roughly 10% on May 6 and May 7 after revenue, while strong, came in below Wall Street’s elevated expectations. By Friday it had recovered, and Monday confirmed the rally was back.

Margins Tell the Bigger Story

CEO Michael Hurlston pointed to margin expansion as the more telling headline. Gross margin improved 540 basis points quarter-over-quarter. Operating margin expanded 700 basis points over the same period.

Non-GAAP EPS came in at $2.37 for Q3, up from $0.57 in the same quarter last year. GAAP net income was $144.2 million, compared to a $44.1 million loss in Q3 FY2025.

The company ended the quarter with $3.17 billion in cash and short-term investments, up $2.02 billion from the prior quarter, largely from a Series A Convertible Preferred Stock issuance in March 2026.

For Q4, Lumentum guided revenue of $960 million to $1.01 billion — roughly 18% sequential growth from Q3’s already-record number. Non-GAAP EPS guidance came in at $2.85 to $3.05.

Peers Join the Rally

Lumentum wasn’t alone on Monday. Coherent rose 13% to $379.69 and Corning jumped 11% to $207.39. All three optical networking stocks held the top three spots in the S&P 500 for the session, and both Coherent and Corning also hit record closing highs.

Coherent is up 106% so far this year. Corning has surged 136% year-to-date and 342% over the past 12 months.

In March, Nvidia announced $2 billion investments in both Lumentum and Coherent, alongside multibillion-dollar purchase commitments with each company.

Bank of America on Monday added Corning to its “U.S. 1 List” — the firm’s collection of top investment ideas.

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