Why Lumentum Holdings Stock Skyrocketed by Nearly 24% on Wednesday

Photonics specialist Lumentum Holdings (NASDAQ: LITE) distinguished itself on Hump Day with a crushing performance on the stock exchange. It published its inaugural quarterly earnings report for its new fiscal year, and it beat the consensus pundit projections, both in the period and for current-quarter guidance.

Its shares closed the trading session almost 24% higher in value, obliterating the 0.4% advance of the benchmark S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC).

Lumentum's strong momentum

Lumentum's first quarter of fiscal 2026 saw the company reap just under $534 million in net revenue, which was a rich 58% higher than the take from the same period of 2025. The growth of net income not according to generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) was also well in the double digits, increasing by 36% to $86.4 million ($1.10 per share).

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With those numbers, Lumentum came in at the high end of its guidance ranges. It also handily beat the consensus analyst estimates, which stood at $526 million for revenue and $1.03 for non-GAAP (adjusted) net income.

Lumentum attributed its considerable rises to broad-based across its customer base. It quoted CEO Michael Hurlston as saying that the first-quarter results "underscore our strong momentum across data center, data center interconnect, and long-haul markets."

A comfortable beat on guidance too

Hurlston and his team are obviously convinced that momentum will continue, as it guided for net revenue of $630 million to $670 million for its current (second) quarter, and adjusted earnings per share ranging from $1.30 to $1.50. These forecasts compare favorably to the current analyst estimates, which on average are a respective $561.9 million and $1.17 per share.

Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Lumentum. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.