POET Technologies Soars 11% on Huang, BofA AI Optics Call

POET Technologies (NASDAQ:POET) jumped 11.38% Friday to close at $12.53, leading the pack in a rally tied to the optics-for-AI narrative. The move followed a Bank of America note that said semiconductor companies would benefit from the rapid adoption of agentic AI. BofA argued that agentic AI – software that acts autonomously on behalf of users – would drive massive increases in data movement, creating demand for high-speed optical interconnects.

The optics case got a stronger endorsement from Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. Speaking this week, Huang said the right strategy is to "scale up with copper as long as you can. After that, you scale up further with optics." He added that scaling out and scaling across both require optics, with copper used only where necessary. The comments validated a thesis that POET and other optics component makers have been pitching for years: as data-center clusters grow, copper's reach and bandwidth hit limits, forcing a shift to optical links.

Rosenblatt Securities piled on with a note that it expects key players in the optical sector to expand production capacities by about 12x through 2030 to meet AI demand. That projection, if realized, would represent a multi-year investment cycle for suppliers like POET, which develops optical engine modules for data-center transceivers.

For AlphaScala readers, the structure of the rally matters as much as the catalyst. The stock rose on analyst sentiment and a CEO quote, not on product shipments or earnings. That makes it a sentiment-driven move until the company delivers results. A design win or a guidance raise would confirm the thesis. The risk is that Huang's copper-first stance delays the optics timeline, or POET's revenue does not accelerate in the next two quarters.

Nvidia, the market leader driving the AI infrastructure buildout, carries an Alpha Score of 67 at AlphaScala, reflecting moderate risk and a technology sector weighting. Its continued capex trajectory is the single biggest variable for optics suppliers.

BofA's own score at AlphaScala is 65, also in the moderate zone, which suggests the bank's view is in line with sector-consensus risk pricing rather than a contrarian call.

The real test for POET will be whether it can convert industry tailwinds into revenue growth. Huang's vision of optics scaling is the bull case. The back of the envelope says that if the 12x capacity expansion happens, a fraction of that volume would dwarf POET's current revenue base. The timeline and POET's share of that expansion remain the open questions.