Nvidia put $2 billion into it, the stock is up 380% and the best may be yet to come

Coherent Corp. is not another beneficiary of the AI hype cycle that grew on a wave of enthusiasm and will soon face reality. It's a company that has undergone a painful three-year transformation, shedding less profitable divisions, radically rebuilding its manufacturing base, and today stands at the intersection of three structural trends simultaneously: the explosive expansion of AI data centers, the shift to faster optical interconnects, and the emergence of an entirely new generation of co-packaged optics. Nvidia seems to have grasped this before most of the market and in March 2026 confirmed its outlook for a $2 billion direct investment with a multi-billion dollar purchase commitment extending to 2030.

Over the past 12 months, COHR stock has appreciated approximately 380%, yet it still trades at just 13x forward earnings and a PEG ratio of 0.921. The data center segment is growing 37% year-over-year, the orders-to-deliveries ratio exceeds 4x, and the latest quarterly outlook beats…