LightPath Technologies Inc

LightPath Technologies reported fiscal fourth-quarter and full-year results on September 10 that showed annual revenue climbing 92.7% to $71.7 million from $37.2 million, with the fourth quarter alone hitting a record $21.2 million, up 73.8% year over year. Full-year gross margin expanded to 36% from 27.2%, and the fourth quarter came in at 39.4%, as assemblies, modules and cameras rose to 44% of annual sales, while backlog finished at $110.9 million, up 197% from $37.4 million a year earlier, with $85.6 million scheduled for delivery within 12 months. Weeks after the fiscal year closed, the company booked another $24 million in counter-UAS orders, and LightPath also completed its exit from China by selling its subsidiary there for $4.5 million paid out over five years. The fourth-quarter net loss narrowed to $4.1 million from $7.1 million a year earlier, but full-year operating expenses jumped to $45.5 million from $22 million, including a $15.6 million noncash charge tied to G5 Infrared outperforming its earnout targets. CEO Sam Rubin said the Army pushed its Next Generation Short Range Interceptor timeline out by several months and that the redesign of G5's cooled cameras to use Black Diamond glass instead of germanium is behind schedule, while detector lead times have stretched from roughly six months to ten months or more. Hedge fund ownership fell to 20 funds from 27 in the prior quarter, short interest sits at 15.44% of float, and LightPath enters fiscal 2027 with $93.2 million in cash and no meaningful debt.

LightPath Technologies told investors on its fiscal 2026 fourth-quarter earnings call that fiscal 2027 capital spending will exceed the $6.3 million recorded in fiscal 2026, a deliberate choice made against a visible order book and pipeline. CEO Sam Rubin said fiscal 2026 was the first year the company's transformation showed up cleanly in every line of the financial statements, with revenue growing from $37 million to nearly $72 million, gross margin expanding from 27% to 36%, adjusted EBITDA swinging from a $5.1 million loss to a $4.2 million profit, and backlog ending at $110.9 million, of which approximately $85.6 million was requested for delivery within 12 months. For the fourth quarter, revenue was $21.2 million, gross margin was 39.4%, and adjusted EBITDA was $2.1 million, or 10% of revenue, while the net loss was $4.1 million, or $0.06 per share. Rubin said capacity is the single biggest operational theme going into fiscal 2027, with glass demand running ahead of supply even after the acquisition, and the company is adding melting capacity in Orlando and Texas, expanding optical fabrication, coating and assembly across U.S. and Latvian sites, and adding shifts in all locations. He also said that shortly after the quarter closed the company reported two large production orders totaling $24 million, and that in July it signed a definitive agreement to sell its China subsidiary for $4.5 million payable in installments over 5 years, a deal expected to close later this month and remove roughly $4.5 million of annual third-party revenue from consolidated results. CFO Albert Miranda said the $15.6 million charge in fiscal 2026 was a remeasurement of what G5 sellers earned and not an ongoing operating cost, and that the company ended the year with $93.2 million of cash and effectively no debt.

LightPath Technologies reported a quarterly loss of $0.02 per share for its fourth quarter ended June 2026, in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate and narrower than the $0.07 per share loss posted a year earlier. Revenue for the quarter came in at $21.16 million, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 4.51% and up from $12.21 million in the year-ago period. The company has now topped consensus revenue estimates four times over the last four quarters, while it has surpassed consensus EPS estimates two times over that same span. Ahead of the release, the estimate revisions trend for LightPath Technologies was mixed, translating into a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). The current consensus EPS estimate is -$0.01 on $22.38 million in revenues for the coming quarter and $0.01 on $102.96 million in revenues for the current fiscal year.

A potential federal ban on the sale of certain previously approved foreign-made drones could accelerate the growth of the U.S. drone industry, according to a Piper Sandler research report published Wednesday. The Federal Communications Commission is considering restrictions that would prohibit the importation and sale of foreign uncrewed aircraft systems and critical components placed on its Covered List, with public comments due September 2. Unlike earlier measures focused on preventing new equipment certifications, the proposal could also affect products that have already received approval and are currently available for sale, including drones with thermal-imaging or LiDAR capabilities, aircraft equipped to dispense aerosols, drone docking stations, and drones weighing more than 55 pounds. If adopted, the restrictions could significantly shorten the timetable for reducing U.S. reliance on Chinese drone technology, creating opportunities for domestic manufacturers of drones, optical systems, components, and supporting technology. The report also highlighted a second catalyst: new investments from the Office of Strategic Capital under the federal Drone Dominance Program, which in July made a conditional $820 million loan commitment to an unnamed private drone supplier to establish high-volume U.S. production of propulsion, power, control systems, vision technology, and other components. Piper Sandler named AeroVironment, Unusual Machines, and LightPath Technologies as its preferred publicly traded companies in the drone and drone-supply-chain market, maintaining Overweight ratings with price targets of $235, $38, and $15, respectively.