Lumentum (NASDAQ:LITE) Shares Up 5.6% on Analyst Upgrade

19 Mar 2026, 16:48 by Danessa Lincoln · The Markets Daily

Lumentum Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LITE – Get Free Report)’s stock price traded up 5.6% during trading on Thursday after Morgan Stanley raised their price target on the stock to $595.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Lumentum traded as high as $744.50 and last traded at $740.0750. 3,683,682 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 33% from the average session volume of 5,528,494 shares. The stock had previously closed at $700.81.

LITE has been the topic of several other research reports. Bank of America upped their price objective on Lumentum to $520.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Zacks Research upgraded Lumentum from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Lumentum in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on shares of Lumentum to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Northland Securities set a $350.00 price objective on shares of Lumentum in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $575.06.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on LITE

Insider Transactions at Lumentum

In other news, insider Vincent Retort sold 45,026 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.32, for a total transaction of $26,624,774.32. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 102,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,583,690.60. This trade represents a 30.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Yuen Wupen sold 3,157 shares of Lumentum stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $538.00, for a total transaction of $1,698,466.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 88,439 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,580,182. The trade was a 3.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 65,775 shares of company stock worth $38,851,343 over the last quarter. 0.43% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Trending Headlines about Lumentum

Here are the key news stories impacting Lumentum this week:

Positive Sentiment: Buy-side flows ahead of S&P 500 inclusion are a major near-term catalyst as investors position for index inclusion, driving recent multi‑day gains. Lumentum (LITE) Jumps 7.9% Ahead of S&P 500 Inclusion
Positive Sentiment: New product announcements at OFC — including high‑speed transceivers and lasers — and management’s long‑term $2B quarterly revenue run‑rate target materially boost the company’s AI/data‑center narrative and revenue outlook. Why Lumentum Is A Buy Despite The Run‑Up
Positive Sentiment: AI infrastructure demand (notably from NVIDIA’s ecosystem) is repeatedly cited as a secular tailwind for optical vendors like Lumentum, supporting revenue growth expectations. Lumentum Soars 12% — and NVIDIA’s AI Boom Is a Big Reason Why
Positive Sentiment: Macro/industry research warnings that optical suppliers may face multi‑year shortages imply pricing power and sustained demand for suppliers like Lumentum. “Multi‑Year Shortages” Coming for Optical Suppliers
Neutral Sentiment: Industry commentary and transcripts highlight product roadmaps and strategy (useful for longer‑term thesis) but are informational rather than immediate price movers. Lumentum Transcript: Illuminating the Networks of Tomorrow
Neutral Sentiment: Coverage pieces positioning Lumentum as critical to the AI “nervous system” help sentiment but don’t add fresh fundamentals. More Than Just Brains: The AI Revolution’s Nervous System
Negative Sentiment: Some analysts/notes inject caution — Zacks flagged that recent estimate revision trends may not sustain the rally, which could temper momentum if revisions turn negative. Lumentum (LITE) Surges 7.9%: Is This an Indication of Further Gains?
Negative Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s action (raised target but left an equal‑weight stance) and at least one published price target sit well below the recent market price, highlighting potential downside if enthusiasm fades or index flows reverse. Analyst Coverage Notes (Benzinga)

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lumentum

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LITE. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Lumentum by 123.3% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 4,623 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,704,000 after purchasing an additional 2,553 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in Lumentum by 6,239.0% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 194,163 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $71,724,000 after buying an additional 191,100 shares in the last quarter. OCONNOR A Distinct Business Unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC purchased a new stake in Lumentum in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,136,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its stake in Lumentum by 46,666.7% in the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 8,418 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,103,000 after buying an additional 8,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Reflection Asset Management acquired a new stake in Lumentum in the fourth quarter worth about $59,000. 94.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lumentum Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $54.10 billion, a PE ratio of 232.59 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $526.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $341.46.

Lumentum (NASDAQ:LITE – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $665.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $646.74 million. Lumentum had a net margin of 11.95% and a return on equity of 17.27%. Lumentum’s revenue was up 65.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.42 EPS. Lumentum has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 2.150-2.350 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Lumentum Holdings Inc. will post 0.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Lumentum Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Lumentum Holdings Inc, headquartered in San Jose, California, is a leading provider of photonic technologies that enable high-speed optical communication networks and advanced industrial applications. The company designs and manufactures a broad range of lasers, optical modules and subsystems tailored to the evolving requirements of telecommunications carriers, cloud data centers and enterprise networking.

Its core product portfolio includes tunable and fixed-wavelength laser transmitters, coherent optical engines, transceivers for long-haul, metro and data center interconnects, as well as test and measurement instruments.