Photonics and memory pickups
Relative‑strength lists from traders are highlighting memory and photonics plays as the AI cycle evolves — Micron (MU) shows up for memory, while AAOI, AEHR and LWLG are named among photonics plays (x.com). Those tickers are appearing on trader watchlists immediately behind the sector's larger infrastructure names (x.com).
The next names showing up on trader watchlists are not the biggest artificial intelligence chip companies. They are memory and photonics stocks tied to the plumbing behind those systems. (sec.gov) Memory is the short-term workspace for artificial intelligence chips, and high-bandwidth memory is the stacked version built to move data faster with less delay. Micron Technology said on March 18 that fiscal second-quarter 2026 revenue reached $8.05 billion for the quarter ended Feb. 26, 2026, as demand for artificial intelligence memory kept rising. (sec.gov) Photonics is the use of light instead of electricity to move data, the same basic idea as fiber-optic internet lines. In data centers, those optical links sit between graphics processing units, switches, and servers, where bandwidth needs rise as clusters get larger. (lightwavelogic.com) (markets.businessinsider.com) Applied Optoelectronics is one of the companies traders are watching because it sells those optical links. The company said on March 23 that it received a new volume order from a major hyperscale customer for 800-gigabit single-mode data-center transceivers for artificial intelligence workloads. (markets.businessinsider.com) Applied Optoelectronics also told investors on Feb. 26 that fiscal 2025 revenue rose 83% to $456 million, with data-center revenue up 32% to $196 million. Management said full-year 2026 revenue should exceed $1 billion and said growth was being limited by production capacity and supply chain constraints, not market demand. (fool.com) Aehr Test Systems is a different kind of photonics bet. It does not make optical chips; it makes the machines used to test and stress semiconductors before they ship, including photonics and integrated optical devices. (aehr.com) That testing business has started to pick up alongside artificial intelligence infrastructure orders. Aehr said on April 7 that quarterly bookings topped $37 million, and the company separately highlighted a new silicon photonics customer using its FOX-XP wafer-level burn-in system for hyperscale data-center optical interconnects. (aehr.com 1) (aehr.com 2) Lightwave Logic is the most speculative name in the group because it is still pushing a materials platform rather than reporting scaled product sales. The company said its electro-optic polymer modulator platform became available on March 16 in a process design kit for GlobalFoundries’ silicon photonics platform, giving chip designers a way to include its devices in manufacturing layouts. (accessnewswire.com) Those distinctions matter because the four companies sit at different points in the same buildout. Micron is selling memory into systems now, Applied Optoelectronics is shipping optical links, Aehr is selling test gear into production ramps, and Lightwave Logic is still trying to win design adoption inside foundry ecosystems. (sec.gov) (fool.com) (aehr.com) (lightwavelogic.com) What traders are tracking, then, is a widening artificial intelligence supply chain. After the biggest infrastructure names, the next rotation is moving toward the companies that store the data and the companies that move it with light. (sec.gov) (markets.businessinsider.com)
