Poet Technologies (POET +9.99%) stock rocketed higher across May's trading, gaining 72.6% over the period. The S&P 500 rose 5.2% over the same stretch, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 8.4%.
Semiconductor and photonics stocks enjoyed very strong bullish momentum last month, and Poet benefited from the favorable valuation backdrop. The company's share price has been highly volatile in 2026, but it's still up roughly 87% year to date.
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Poet made some big moves in May
On May 14, Poet announced that it had entered into a contract to sell Lumilens at least $50 million worth of hardware. The deal also leaves the door open for more than $500 million in total hardware sales. On the other hand, the contract also grants Lumilens stock warrants to purchase shares of Poet stock at $8.25 in tranches tied to the execution of hardware purchases.
Poet also published its first-quarter results on May 14, posting sales that beat the market's expectations. The company reported a loss of $0.08 per share on sales of $0.5 million. The per-share loss came in $0.03 lighter than the average analyst estimate, and sales topped the average analyst forecast by $0.25 million.
Following its Q1 report, Poet published a press release the following day announcing that it had secured $400 million in funding for the sale of roughly 19 million shares of common stock and a warrant offering the singular institutional investor the right to purchase roughly 19 million additional shares at a price of $26.15 per share.
Despite the stock dilution implied by the company's recent deals, Poet managed to post big gains last month thanks in part to bullish excitement surrounding artificial intelligence (AI) stocks.
NASDAQ: POET
Key Data Points
Why Poet stock is moving lower in June
As of this writing, Poet stock is down roughly 3.5% in June's trading. The S&P 500 is down 2.6% over the same period, and the Nasdaq Composite's level has moved 4.7% lower.
Poet stock has been moving lower this month in conjunction with a broader pullback for tech-stock valuations. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) published its May jobs report on June 5, and stronger-than-expected jobs growth has actually prompted a significant pullback for growth stocks.
The BLS report showed that the U.S. economy added an estimated 172,000 nonfarm jobs last month -- exceeding the average economist estimate's target for 80,000 nonfarm payroll positions added in the period. While strong job growth could be viewed as an encouraging sign for the economy, it could also increase the likelihood that the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates this year. As a stock with a highly speculative valuation profile, Poet's share price could be particularly sensitive to the outlook on interest rates.
