POET Reports Q1 Net Loss: Retail Split As AI Deal Rally Meets Weak Earnings Print

• POET reported Q1 net loss of $12.3 million.
• CEO Suresh Venkatesan said the company achieved “significant progress” in reinforcing POET’s strategic role within the AI and hyperscale data center market.
• Stocktwits sentiment for POET inched higher in the ‘bullish’ zone.

POET Technologies shares declined 4.3% in early premarket trading on Friday after the company reported a net loss for the first quarter, compared to a net profit in the year-ago period.

POET’s Q1 Results

POET reported a net loss of $12.3 million in Q1, compared with a net income of $6.3 million in the same period in 2025. In the year-ago quarter, the company recorded a non-cash gain of $15.4 million from a fair value adjustment of certain warrants.

The bottom line showed strong sales growth. POET reported $503,389 in non-recurring engineering (NRE) and product revenue for the first quarter of 2026, up from $166,760 a year earlier. 

POET reported under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) instead of U.S. GAAP because it is a Canadian company, which is generally required to use IFRS for their financial statements.

CEO Suresh Venkatesan said the company achieved “significant progress” in reinforcing POET’s strategic role in the AI and hyperscale data center markets, adding that its recent partnerships highlight rising industry demand for its photonic integration technologies.

POET-Lumilens Deal

Stock momentum on Friday was also driven by a major contract announcement made on the previous day.

POET stock surged a staggering 43% on Thursday after the company announced a deal with privately held Lumilens Inc., which it said could generate more than $500 million in contracts over the next five years. 

With shares now up 88% this week, the rally is shaping up to be one of the strongest weekly performances in POET’s history. The rebound, which puts POET at a fresh high, is notable as it puts the late-April selloff in the rearview, when Marvell canceled its orders with POET due to a confidentiality breach. 

POET said that the supply agreement with Lumilens to jointly develop and scale the manufacturing of optical components had already received an initial $50 million purchase order. POET also granted a warrant to purchase up to 22.92 million common shares, exercisable over nine years at an exercise price of $8.25 per share, in connection with the deal.

Retail View On POET

On Stocktwits, the retail sentiment for the stock climbed higher in the ‘bullish’ zone. “$POET What a time to be alive. Photonics was such an obvious but surprisingly gradual ascent. Even quantum got the spotlight before us. Long road ahead,” a trader said.

However, some remained skeptical of the gains' sustainability. "Total euphoria on $POET. $3.4B market cap on $1M revenue is pure insanity,” said a trader. Expecting a brutal morning flush once the retail FOMO dies down. High risk, high reward short."

Year to date, POET shares have gained 88%.

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