The analyst is bullish on three small-cap photonics stocks (SIVEF, POET, LWLG) as long-term investments due to the growing pluggable optics market and strategic collaborations, highlighting strong growth potential in the AI infrastructure photonics layer.
The pluggable optics market is a $25 billion opportunity with hyperscalers scaling cluster size; AVGO guided $600M+ optical revenue; MRVL's interconnect business growing 70%+ YoY; SIVEF's collaboration with GlobalFoundries; POET's optical interposer with Marvell and smart money interest; LWLG's milestones and Fortune 500 design wins.
The most underowned layer of the AI stack — the plumbing $SIVEF · $POET · $LWLG Three small-cap photonics names. High risk. High conviction. Long time horizon required. Here’s why they stay on the watchlist. The macro is undeniable — the pluggable optics market is a $25 billion opportunity , every hyperscaler is scaling cluster size, and $AVGO just guided $600M+ in optical revenue. $MRVL’s interconnect business is growing 70%+ YoY. Data has to move faster with less power. That’s not a GPU problem. That’s a photonics problem. $SIVEF is a Swedish InP laser specialist that just landed a strategic collaboration with GlobalFoundries — integrating its laser arrays into GF’s silicon photonics and SCALE co-packaged optics platforms . CPO needs lasers. Sivers makes them. Named a 2026 top pick by Northland in photonics and lasers coverage.  $POET is building an Optical Interposer that puts lasers, modulators, and electronics on a single chip. A purchase order linked to Marvell Technology is in place, with shipments expected as early as next quarter.  Citadel added 1.85M shares — up 273% — in Q1 2026.  Smart money is watching. $LWLG is the most differentiated of the three. Pre-revenue — but milestone after milestone is landing. A fourth Fortune Global 500 company just advanced to Stage 3 of the Design Win Cycle — prototype to product.  Tower Semiconductor deal signed to integrate LWLG’s electro-optic polymer modulators targeting 110GHz+ bandwidth for 200G and 400G AI infrastructure.  Four Fortune 500 names in Stage 3 is not noise. These are not for everyone. They’re for the patient, the convicted, and those who size small and think in years — not quarters. The compute layer gets the headlines. The photonics layer gets the upside. Not financial advice.
| Horizon | Raw move | vs SPY |
|---|---|---|
| 1 day | +0.0% | +0.0% |
| 1 week | -2.1% | -4.2% |
| 1 month | -28.2% | -29.8% |
| 3 months | — | — |
| 6 months | — | — |