Why Is POET Stock Rising In Premarket Today?

• POET shares gained in Tuesday’s premarket session, after sharp gains the previous day.
• Neither Qualcomm nor POET has responded to rumors around a potential deal.
• Stocktwits sentiment for POET was ‘neutral.’

POET Technologies stock rallied 4% in premarket trading on Tuesday, extending gains after a sharp rise, amid unconfirmed rumors that chip major Qualcomm might be eying a stake in the company.

Although there is broader optimism about the photonics data transmission technology offered by POET and its peers, POET stock has surged in recent months amid a wave of speculation linking it to Nvidia and hyperscalers such as Amazon.

On Monday, speculation that Qualcomm might be pursuing a deal emerged on Reddit and X, and appeared to push the stock higher. Neither Qualcomm nor POET responded to Stocktwits’ emails seeking a comment.

AI Data Center Demand Drives Interest In POET, Photonics Tech

Record levels of spending on new AI data centers, coupled with robust recent results from cloud companies, continue to bolster the outlook for data center-adjacent sectors, including chips, networking, and other infrastructure components.

The speculation came as POET gained 50% last week, regaining ground lost after the company’s order commentary led to the cancellation of business with Marvell Technology and a sharp stock slide.

Late last month, POET CFO Thomas Mika told Stocktwits in an interview that the company had received orders linked to Marvell, and that a few more from other customers were in the pipeline. Days later, the company said that those orders were canceled due to “contravention of its confidentiality obligations.” POET stock slide 47% on April 27, the day after the company’s disclosure.

Retail View On POET

Retail traders on Stocktwits also discussed the Qualcomm deal rumors, although sentiment for the ticker remained ‘neutral’ for a second day.

“Qualcomm > Marvell! Once the market realizes just how big the Lessengers partnership is and how it is directly tied to Qualcomm, there is no telling where this goes. Samples were sent in Q2, which is about to end,” a trader said.

Poet has been a partner of Lessenger, a South Korean optical interconnect and photonics company, since last year, and the two are developing “Direct Optical Wiring” (DOW) technology for data center applications. There is no formal link between Qualcomm and Lessenger.

Another wrote: “I’ve moved my buyout target. Qualcomm will have to pay us $30 if they want this now. Hold tight folks!”

POET shares closed at $13.90 on Monday and have gained 120% year to date.

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