nLIGHT

Sales hit an all time high of 82.6 million dollars this quarter, up almost 34 percent from a year ago. The products side, which is the higher margin part of the business, grew even faster at 45 percent to a record 59.4 million dollars. That means the growth is coming from selling actual laser hardware, not just research contracts.

The quarterly loss narrowed to just 1.3 million dollars from 3.6 million dollars a year ago, and cash earnings nearly doubled to 10.7 million dollars. nLIGHT also sits on about 296 million dollars in cash and just paid off its entire 20 million dollar credit line. That is a company inching toward real profitability with no debt pressure.

Supply chain problems pushed roughly 17 million dollars of product shipments out of next quarter and into the future. That is why guidance calls for only 63 to 73 million dollars in sales, a big step down from the 82.6 million dollars just delivered. The demand is there, but the parts are not always showing up on time.

Even at record sales, nLIGHT still lost money, and gross margin sits at just 31 percent. Next quarter it could slip to as low as 24 percent, partly because the development side of the business earns only about 8 percent. When you keep a small slice of every dollar, one bad quarter can wipe out the progress.