CLFD Clearfield Inc

$CLFD Optical component stocks jumped in overnight trading late Thursday after Lumentum Holdings Inc. (LITE) CEO Michael Hurlston said the company’s optoelectronic products were completely sold out through early 2029, underscoring surging demand for AI data center infrastructure. In an interview with Bloomberg in Tokyo on Friday, Hurlston said Lumentum was struggling to keep up with demand from technology companies racing to build faster AI data centers. The company cannot meet demand for some products through next year and expects a 30% shortfall for others through 2028, he said. “We are completely sold out, so there’s no end in sight,” Hurlston told the news agency. More evidence that demand for fiber infrastructure within the data center will remain robust for the foreseeable future. That is a nice macro backdrop for nova.

$CLFD Things are happening FWIW Vistabeam allocates 94% of $100 million BEAD awards to fiber over wireless. WISPA says to use the best tool for the job. Apparently, when government money is paying to overbuild WISPs businesses, that tool is fiber. Vistabeam bid fiber for about 94% of its $100 million in BEAD awards. Yesterday, Governor Josh Shapiro announced the (NTIA) approved and executed an agreement with the Commonwealth to deploy $711,295,843 in (BEAD) grants to connect the remaining locations across the Commonwealth that currently lack high-speed internet service. Pennsylvania, which was originally awarded $1.16 billion in BEAD funding. Through Pennsylvania’s BEAD plan, 20 approved entities across 69 projects will connect a total of 129,356 unserved and underserved locations across Pennsylvania. Of those locations, 74,878 will be connected by fiber technology, 6,855 will be connected by hybrid-fiber coaxial, 17,739 through fixed-wireless, and 29,884 via LEO.

$CLFD APH completed acquisition of Commscope in Jan has really boosted their top and bottom line. They had to raise 2026 guidance from $4.1 to $4.6B as a result. “M&A is something near and dear to our heart,” he said on Amphenol’s Q3 earnings call, noting the company still sees “a lot of room to grow” both organically and through additional acquisitions. In Norwitt’s view, the interconnect industry has a market value of “more than a quarter trillion dollars,” but it’s also “highly fragmented.” Cheri is you can demonstrate that CLFD can compete on a larger scale, you can bet companies like Amphenol will take notice. Ron is no spring chicken. TBH neither are you or Dan. Take Clearfield's expertise and demonstrate it can be applied to larger addressable markets and you can write your swan song. It is time to get aggressive IMO.

$CLFD Cheri is 64 years old with millions in the bank, retiring in today’s circumstances seems more than logical. Sell the company to $GLW

$CLFD seems like an odd time to be leaving without someone already selected and on the cusp of AI market breakthru. Also the recdbt timing of that article. On the flip side, AIPH continues to purchase shares and approaching 10%.

$CLFD (Clearfield, Minneapolis maker of fiber-optic connectivity gear): co-founder Cheri Beranek retires as CEO by March 31, 2027 with no successor named; the board is searching outside and inside. Market value ~$415.7M at $30.6 (16:00 ET Oct 19, 2026); June 30, 2026 cash plus investments: $155.1M. Offset: she stays until a successor starts, then as CEO Emeritus, and preliminary unaudited FY26 results are expected in line with Aug 5 guidance, itself a cut ($151M-$155M sales, $0.14-$0.21 EPS). Results due after the close Nov 10, 2026.

$CLFD Ravery i’m in complete agreement with you. I think the company has made all the right moves in this environment and I am patiently waiting for the wind to turn. PS thank you for your posting. I appreciate it.

$CLFD Will the next earnings report be another nothing burger, completely devoid of positive surprises, as management guidance would indicate. Will there be updated guidance with another 3 month adjustment to the goal posts? Management is on thin ice, but they have no fear of being replaced so they aren't losing sleep. Sweet gig! Sooner or later the "it's not our fault" excuse will run out of legitimacy and any failure to reach the elusive pot of gold at that point will send shares to quantum land with Ant Man Tension is really piling up with each passing quarter so bad news is going to be exacerbated. CLFD is too small to have a real plan B so fingers crossed.