What Happened?

Shares of materials and photonics company Coherent (NYSE: COHR) jumped 5.7% in the morning session after Barclays raised its price target on the stock, fueling investor confidence. 

The firm's analyst, Tom O'Malley, increased the price target from $110.00 to $135.00, representing a significant jump, while keeping an "Overweight" rating on the shares. This positive revision was linked to Coherent's role in the growing semiconductor and artificial intelligence fields. Analysts pointed to the company's strong innovations as a key reason for their positive outlook. The move by Barclays followed another price target increase a few days earlier from a Rosenblatt analyst, who lifted their target from $135.00 to $150.00 and maintained a "Buy" rating.

After the initial pop the shares cooled down to $121.40, up 4.4% from previous close.

Is now the time to buy Coherent? Access our full analysis report here.

What Is The Market Telling Us

Coherent’s shares are extremely volatile and have had 43 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.

The previous big move we wrote about was 4 days ago when the stock gained 3.8% after sentiment in the semiconductor sector improved as industry giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) posted strong quarterly results and raised its full-year sales forecast. TSMC, the world's largest chipmaker, announced that its net profit surged by nearly 40% in the last quarter, reaching a record high. The company attributed this growth to the boom in artificial intelligence. Looking ahead, TSMC upgraded its 2025 sales forecast, expecting growth of almost 35 percent, up from a previous estimate of 30 percent. This positive outlook from a key industry leader signaled robust demand across the semiconductor market, lifting related stocks.

Coherent is up 20.7% since the beginning of the year, and at $121.40 per share, it is trading close to its 52-week high of $122.35 from October 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Coherent’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $2,651.

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